Energy planning using MESSAGE: The effect of large energy blocks in the Chilean system

The evolution of the Chilean energy matrix into a more sustainable system with high levels of energy sufficiency and security of supply in the long term brings with it important challenges in the way that investors and the regulator make long term decisions and commitments. This translates into a paradigm change in the way in which the system is traditionally managed and planned. This change not only affects the operation and the dispatch of the system but it also affects the costs associated with the operation, economic planning, and financing of it. Long term energy planning is now fundamental for studying changes in the future national energy supply. This article contributes in this way by developing an energy model of the main national system and evaluating the effect of large injections of electrical energy on the structure of the matrix of electricity generation. Utilizing the planning tool MESSAGE, the following are studied: the impact of hydroelectricity generation in the south of the country, nuclear energy generation, and the effect of large blocks of energy that are dispersed and at times intermittent, as renewable energies are, in particular wind power.