Chile

Mainstream Chile is one of the most successful non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) companies in Latam.  It has a stake in 332 MW of operational wind plant, has fully energised 590 MW of its Andes Renovables platform and has a further 1.4 GW in construction.  In July it announced a further platform in late-stage development - Nasca.

The Andes Renovables platform represents ten projects (seven wind, three solar) and an investment of US$1.8 billion. 

The platform was constructed under three portfolios; Condór, Huemul and Copihue with all projects expected operational by 2022. Mainstream was the biggest winner in Chile’s largest ever technology-neutral electricity auction, taking 27 percent of the total allocated capacity.

Chile’s National Energy Commission awarded Mainstream a 20-year index-linked, US dollar denominated contract, to supply 3,366 Gigawatt Hours of firm power starting in 2021.

Mainstream fully energised its 590 MW Cóndor portfolio, the first phase of the company’s 1.35 GW Andes Renovables wind and solar power generation platform in Chile in July 2021. 

The milestone was marked by Francisco López, the country’s Under Secretary for Energy, who toured Mainstream’s Tchamma Wind Farm and met the local team.

The first phase, Condór (590 MW) consists of three wind and one solar asset and reached financial close in November 2019.  

Condór represents an investment of US$580 million. When operational in 2021, it will generate enough sustainable electricity to power 680,000 Chilean homes and will displace 656,000 metric tonnes of CO2 each year.

The 630 megawatt (MW) second phase of Andes Renovables – called “Huemul” – is comprised of three onshore wind and two solar PV generation assets and reached financial close in September 2020.

All five assets are in construction and will reach commercial operation between 2021 and 2022. They will generate enough sustainable electricity to power 781,000 Chilean homes and will displace 744,200 metric tonnes of CO2 each year. 

Copihue consists of one wind farm, named Caman, located in central Chile.  It reached financial close in July 2021 with c. US$182 million in debt raised to build it.

Financing of the Copihue portfolio marked the start of the final phase in the build-out of Andes Renovables
The project, which will commence operations in 2022, initially had an installed capacity of 100 MW but has since increased to 148.5 MW following the signing of an additional long-term, bilateral Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a strategic partner.

In July 2021, Mainstream announced plans for Nazca Renovables – a new, hybrid renewable energy platform with more than 1 GW of capacity.

The clean energy generated by the platform will avoid the emission of more than 1.1 million tonnes of CO2, around the equivalent of every one of Chile’s 18 million people planting a tree.

The platform consists of six projects – three wind farms, and three solar PV generation assets – and is divided into three portfolios. Humboldt, the first of these, will provide 255 MW of clean energy via the Tata Inti Solar Farm and the Entre Ríos Wind Farm, with construction expected to begin in mid-2022.

In 2013, Mainstream established its  Chilean joint venture together with Actis named Aela Energía.  It consists of three operational wind farms; Sarco (170 MW), Aurora (129 MW) and Cuel (33 MW). 

Aela won 64% of total allocated capacity in the 2015 Chilean competitive auction process winning two PPAs and in 2016 an additional PPA was awarded for the Cuel project.