Solar energy in northern Chile: new opportunities for foreign investors

For fifteen years the case for investing in Chilean solar was the resource: the Atacama Desert has the best irradiance on the planet. That remains true, and it is no longer enough. In 2025 Chile curtailed 6,205 GWh of renewable energy — power that was generated and the system could not use — and almost half of that loss occurred in the Antofagasta region. Sunlight stopped being the constraint. What is scarce now is the hour in which that energy is worth something.

The problem, in numbers

Solar and wind supplied around 38% of the energy injected into the system during 2025, peaking at up to 79% of demand in high-irradiance hours. Adding hydro, two thirds of Chilean generation is renewable. That success created its own problem: at midday the north has surplus power and transmission cannot move it to the load centre.

The 2025 curtailment figure — 6,205 GWh — was essentially flat against 2024 but 133% above 2023. It concentrated in Antofagasta (48.3%), Atacama (28.4%) and Coquimbo (8.0%). For an investor that translates into something concrete: a solar project without firm offtake or storage backing is exposed to selling its output in the cheapest hours of the day, or not selling it at all.

Why 2025 was the turning point

The most important figure of the year is not the curtailment itself but what contained it. Battery storage systems delivered around 2 TWh to the grid during 2025; without them, curtailment would have reached roughly 8,200 GWh. Batteries avoided a further 24% of losses in their first meaningful year of operation.

Installed storage closed 2025 at around 1,700 MW in operation, with a further 600 MW in testing and close to 4,500 MW under construction for 2026. In parallel, 3,182 MW of new generating capacity entered the system through November — the largest intake since 2021 — and on 1 January 2026 roughly 700 MW of northern coal capacity retired. The system is changing shape, not just size.

Where the capital is going

The clearest illustration is Grenergy's Oasis de Atacama: 4.4 GW of solar paired with 18.8 GWh of storage, at an estimated investment of around €3.5 billion. Its fourth phase — 272 MW of solar with 1,100 MWh of batteries — was agreed for sale to an infrastructure investor for up to US$475 million. What is being valued is not the solar plant; it is the solar-plus-battery block that can deliver after sunset.

The second shift is demand. Data centres are moving north in search of cheap, available power, with announcements in the hundreds of MW of IT capacity. Add desalination — which mining needs and which consumes power continuously — and green hydrogen projects, which now weigh as heavily as mining in the environmental assessment pipeline. Each of those loads turns curtailed energy into sold energy.

Five questions before committing capital

1. What is the hourly revenue profile, not the capacity factor? Two projects with identical annual output can be worth very different amounts depending on when they inject.
2. What real evacuation capacity does the connection point have, and which transmission works are committed, on what date and with what degree of certainty?
3. Is storage in the design or bolted on? Integrating batteries from the start changes the engineering, the footprint, the environmental assessment and the financial model.
4. Who is the offtaker? A contract with a mine, a desalination plant or a data centre is worth something different from spot exposure, and it determines bankability.
5. Are land use and community relationships resolved? In northern Chile, land availability is rarely just a question of title.

Frequently asked questions

How much renewable energy is curtailed in Chile?

Curtailment reached 6,205 GWh in 2025, essentially flat against 2024 but 133% above 2023. Antofagasta accounted for 48.3% and Atacama for 28.4%.

Does battery storage actually reduce curtailment?

Yes, and it is now measurable. Battery systems delivered around 2 TWh to the Chilean grid during 2025; without them curtailment would have reached roughly 8,200 GWh, some 24% more.

What share of Chile's power mix is solar and wind?

Around 38% of the energy injected into the system during 2025, peaking at up to 79% of demand during high-irradiance hours. Including hydro, two thirds of Chilean generation is renewable.

Sources: Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional 2025 balance (January 2026); 2025 renewable curtailment reporting; Grenergy public announcements on the Oasis de Atacama project; Environmental Assessment Service public account (July 2026). This article is general information, not investment advice.