Buenos Aires — The first export of renewable energy from Chile to Argentina took place this weekend, through the Andes transmission, which was reactivated in recent weeks, AES Andes, the company in charge of the transmission line, has announced.
The first transmission of renewable energy from Chile to Argentina took place on Saturday and totaled 75 megawatts, with 70 MW transmitted on Sunday.
In the days prior to the first export of renewable energy, the company carried out a series of non-load energization and energy injection tests from the Andes substation in Chile to the Puna substation in Argentina, which were approved by the country’s National Electricity Coordinator (CEN), which oversees the grid.
The agreement announced between the two countries establishes that Chile will be able to export energy during the day totaling up to 80 MW, and will be able to import during the night up to 200 MW.
The two countries’ electricity systems will not operate in a synchronized manner, but rather will use electrically isolated generation components.
AES said that the electrical interchange operates through the company’s InterAndes tranmission line, which consists of a 345 kV transmission line extending 409km between the Andes substation in Chile and the Cobos substation in Argentina.
According to the company, “the approved modality consists of economic opportunity exchanges, which will be interruptible in the event the grid operators of the respective countries deem it necessary”.
This connection, prior to 2017, had worked to send energy from Chile to Argentina and at other times from Argentina to Chile, but it never worked as a daily exchange between both countries until this past weekend.
