Ministry of Energy, New CIFES Director and German and British Ambassadors Set to Outline Future Strategy of Chile’s Renewable Energy
Press Release
SANTIAGO (September 9, 2015) – Cristian Santana, Renewable Energy Division Chief at the Ministry of Energy will address over 800 influencers at the upcoming renewable energy congress CIREC WEEK – Chile’s leading congress taking place across four days at the Sheraton Hotel and Convention Center, Santiago.
CIFES’ new Executive Director Daniela Álvarez, recently appointed German Ambassador Rolf Schulze and British Ambassador Fiona Clouder will join Mr. Santana to discuss how Chile will meet the government’s target of 20% renewables by 2025.
Joining the debate will be other top national and international senior policy makers, regulators, developers and financiers including the CEO of ENAP and former Minister of Energy Marcelo Tokman, who says: “I see a huge potential for the development of renewable technologies in Chile, a market that is already experiencing huge growth, particularly wind and solar”.
Supporting these comments, Juan Camus, CEO and Co-Founder of Chilean developer Valhalla set to talk about their ground breaking solar and saltwater storage project, says “Chile has the conditions to develop competitive projects that are sustainable with the environment and communities.
Our country is poor in conventional energy sources but rich in the energy of the future, renewables.”
Looking ahead to CIREC WEEK, Former Vice Minister of Energy and Environment for Peru, Pedro Gamio, anticipates the audience will have a unique opportunity to “learn and share the latest hot trends in the renewables sector”.
Transelec Vice President Eric Ahumada, CDEC-SING CEO Daniel Salazar, Jorge Rodríguez, General Manager of InterChile and Katherine Hoelck, Jefe Conexión de Centrales at Grupo Saesa will also be outlining the new opportunities opening up as the country tackles its transmission infrastructure during CIREC WEEK.
Furthermore, to meet the government’s aggressive targets the sector needs right now an investment of $7billion USD to realise the 11GW of renewables projects already approved and in the pipeline.
Outlining the investment opportunities and requirements at the congress will be leaders from Pan American Finance, Deutsche Bank, Banco Security and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Keynote speaker and industry visionary Carlos Finat, Executive Director from ACERA, adds “this growth is especially remarkable because it has developed in a market with no subsidies”.
Although the government have supplied no direct incentives to the market, CNE, CIFES and CIE Chile have both strengthened the clear and stable regulatory infrastructure and provided government auctions to ensure more renewable plants supply energy to the grid.
With the first consultation recently closed, and all offers due to be presented in April 2016, the tender update being delivered at CIREC WEEK by the CNE will be a hotly anticipated update on a major new opportunity in Chilean renewables.
The conference will also incorporate the first and only celebration of Chilean renewable energy projects, with the launch of the CIREC Awards. Judged by a panel of independent experts, entries have been received from a range of businesses, covering the entire spectrum from developer to community project to installer. Winners will be announced at the exclusive awards ceremony on October 27, one of the last events to be held at the historic Castel Hidalgo.
Judging the inaugural 2015 CIREC Awards entries, Rodrigo Castillo, Executive Director of the Asociación de Empresas Eléctricas, says
we are looking for individuals and companies that have gone above and beyond to ensure their work provides a positive impact on the industry as a whole. Renewable energy is vital in securing energy supplies for future generations, and those demonstrating commitment and perseverance in an often challenging environment should be celebrated wherever possible”.
