By Andrew Baker – Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Source: Chilectra prepares for growth in Santiago power demand – BNamericas

Pictured above: Chilectra’s 1Q15 shareholders meeting. Source: Chilectra

To absorb a projected increase in electric energy demand, Chile’s largest power distributor Chilectra will bring two new substation projects online in capital Santiago later this year.

The Chicureo substation will have an initial capacity of 25MVA, Chilectra said in a statement, a figure which the firm expects to eventually grow eight-fold to 200MVA – enough to meet the supply needs of 500,000 homes.

Chilectra is also in the process of doubling capacity at the Chena substation to 800MVA, a project that is nearly complete.

Chilectra, which serves 1.7mn clients in the Santiago Metropolitan region, expects power demand in the firm’s concession area to rise by 2.5%-3% in 2015 compared to 2014. Demand in Q1 grew 3.3% year-on-year, Chilectra said.

The distributor reported a net profit of 32.8bn pesos (US$54.1mn) for the period, up 45.3% year-on-year. Chilectra attributed the growth to improved results from Argentine subsidiary Edesur.

Endesa Chile profits up

Chilectra parent and Chile’s largest generator, Endesa Chile, increased net power output by 12% in 1Q15 to 12,403GWh, due to an uptick in generation from hydroelectric and combined cycle gas turbine plants.

Endesa Chile – whose assets also include power plants in Argentina, Peru, Brazil and Colombia – reported a Q1 net profit of 39.1bn pesos (US$64.5mn), up 9% year-on-year. The firm attributed the growth to improved operational results in Chile and Peru.

Endesa Chile scheduled a results conference call for Wednesday, April 29.