Chile: Energy ‘road map’ will protect competition in renewables industry

Chile’s Ministry of Energy has set itself a target for 2050, when at least 70% of that country’s power must come from renewable sources, a 58% rise on current levels. To achieve this the report calls for 19% of electric demand to be provided by solar power, 23% by wind power and the remaining 29% coming from various hydroelectric systems. Nuclear power has not been considered as part of the country’s energy mix.

Among the policies proposed, the report includes several mechanisms to eliminate obstacles to competition, regulation of energy transmission and an improvement to the distributing contracts award methodology. The roadmap also proposes setting aside both public and private funds to improve competition in high-priority sources (solar, wind and hydroelectric), while avoiding any subsidies that might disrupt the market.

Longer term proposals include the creation of a public contest mechanism for non-regulated customer groups; monitoring efforts for the market and competition; and greater transparency in the contracts market. Finally, the report advocates for wider use of instruments such as carbon taxes through a ‘Cap and Trade’ system in order to tackle global emissions of greenhouse gases.

Source: PV Magazine

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