en.Wedoany.com Reported - According to data from the country's National Electric Coordinator (Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional), as of April 2026, non-conventional renewable energy (ERNC) accounted for 47.7% of the cumulative electricity generation in the National Electric System (SEN), reaching 13,591.7 GWh, while the total installed capacity of the system during the same period was 39,857.1 MW.
The Coordinator's statistics show that as of April 2026, the annual cumulative electricity generation of the National Electric System reached 28,521.1 GWh, of which ERNC production was 13,591.7 GWh, representing a ratio of approximately 47.7%. The system's maximum hourly demand was 13,110.2 MWh/h, and the total installed capacity of operational and testing power plants was 39,857.1 MW.
As the share of renewable energy increases, the need to expand the power grid to transmit electricity from resource-rich areas to consumption centers becomes more urgent. In this context, one of the country's largest transmission projects has reached a new regulatory milestone. The Committee of Ministers (Comité de Ministros) decided to uphold the favorable environmental assessment for the Kimal–Lo Aguirre high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line project, rejecting appeals for its review.
The project, with an estimated investment of $1.48 billion, plans to build and operate an approximately 1,346-kilometer HVDC transmission line crossing the regions of Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, Valparaíso, and the Metropolitan Region, to transport renewable energy within the National Electric System.
The review of the Kimal–Lo Aguirre project was one of the items on the agenda of the seventh meeting of the Committee of Ministers during this administration. The meeting also reviewed appeals concerning the Río Copiapó rural section river project in the Tierra Amarilla area. The two projects together represent an investment of $1.51 billion. According to a report from the Environmental Assessment Service (SEA), from March 30 to the end of June, the agency reviewed 18 projects with pending appeals, involving investments exceeding $8.5 billion.
The data indicates that the system's growth no longer relies solely on new installed generation capacity; the challenge is shifting to the ability to transmit, manage, and integrate the energy produced, especially in systems where renewable energy generation is increasing at a high rate. As of April, ERNC accounted for nearly half of cumulative generation, while large transmission projects such as Kimal–Lo Aguirre continue to advance through their regulatory and development processes.
