Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile)

Chile. Status: operational.

Wholesale design: Centralized least-cost dispatch and hourly marginal-cost spot settlement coexist with bilateral supply contracts; the spot market settles generator injections and withdrawals at marginal node prices.

Operator
Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional
Pricing granularity
nodal
Settlement interval
60 minutes
Nominal frequency
50 Hz
What a battery can sell

What ancillary services can a battery sell in Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile)?

Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile) has 12 ancillary-service products, across 8 families — frequency containment, fast frequency response, automatic frequency restoration, manual frequency restoration, reactive power & voltage, black start & restoration, emergency control and demand response: Control de Contingencias, Control Primario de Frecuencia por Sobrefrecuencia, Control Primario de Frecuencia por Subfrecuencia, Control Rápido de Frecuencia por Sobrefrecuencia, Control Rápido de Frecuencia por Subfrecuencia, Control Secundario de Frecuencia por Sobrefrecuencia, Control Secundario de Frecuencia por Subfrecuencia, Control Terciario de Frecuencia por Sobrefrecuencia, and 4 more. Response timing, direction and eligibility for each are in the cards below, as the official sources state them.

Facts below are stated as the official sources state them. A missing line means the source does not state that value — never that the value is zero.

Frequency containment

  • Control Primario de Frecuencia por Sobrefrecuencia CPF-

    operational

    Contain and correct frequency deviations, including overfrequency contingencies.

    Direction
    down
    Response starts
    within 2 s
    Full activation
    10 s
    Sustain
    at least 5 min; Minimum delivery 5 minutes; no universal maximum stated
    Trigger / range
    Normal-operation band is 50 ±0.2 Hz; important contingencies exceed ±0.2 Hz. Resource-specific deadbands and settings apply.
    Eligibility
    Verified synchronous generation, wind, solar and storage resources.
    Typical procurement
    24–85 MW (2025)
    Pricing
    Wear-cost offers subject to caps; opportunity costs and incremental costs settled ex post

  • Control Primario de Frecuencia por Subfrecuencia CPF+

    operational

    Contain and correct frequency deviations, including underfrequency contingencies.

    Direction
    up
    Response starts
    within 2 s
    Full activation
    10 s
    Sustain
    at least 5 min; Minimum delivery 5 minutes; no universal maximum stated
    Trigger / range
    Normal-operation band is 50 ±0.2 Hz; important contingencies exceed ±0.2 Hz. Some active-energy compensators use ±0.3 Hz activation, but this is resource-specific.
    Eligibility
    Verified synchronous generation, wind, solar, storage and other qualifying installations.
    Typical procurement
    22–331 MW (2025)
    Pricing
    Cost offers subject to caps plus ex-post opportunity and incremental costs

Fast frequency response

  • Control Rápido de Frecuencia por Sobrefrecuencia CRF-

    defined not required 2026

    Rapidly respond to overfrequency deviations and contingencies.

    Direction
    down
    Full activation
    1 s
    Sustain
    at least 5 min; Minimum delivery 5 minutes; no universal maximum stated
    Trigger / range
    Event-triggered; the definition does not prescribe one universal threshold for every resource.
    Eligibility
    Verified generation, storage and other capable facilities under the technical standard.
    Typical procurement
    No technical need identified for 2026
    Pricing
    Not procured in 2026

  • Control Rápido de Frecuencia por Subfrecuencia CRF+

    defined not required 2026

    Rapidly respond to underfrequency deviations and contingencies.

    Direction
    up
    Full activation
    1 s
    Sustain
    at least 5 min; Minimum delivery 5 minutes; no universal maximum stated
    Trigger / range
    Event-triggered; the definition does not prescribe one universal threshold for every resource.
    Eligibility
    Verified generation, storage and other capable facilities under the technical standard.
    Typical procurement
    No technical need identified for 2026
    Pricing
    Not procured in 2026

Automatic frequency restoration

  • Control Secundario de Frecuencia por Sobrefrecuencia CSF-

    operational

    Automatically restore system frequency to nominal and manage intrahour net-demand variations through AGC.

    Direction
    down
    Full activation
    5 min
    Sustain
    at least 15 min; Minimum delivery 15 minutes; no universal maximum stated
    Trigger / range
    AGC centralized control; requirement covers intrahour variation, minimum AGC reserve and five-minute ramps.
    Eligibility
    AGC-qualified synchronous generation, wind, solar and storage.
    Typical procurement
    120–322 MW (2025)
    Pricing
    Wear-cost offer plus ex-post opportunity and incremental costs

  • Control Secundario de Frecuencia por Subfrecuencia CSF+

    operational

    Automatically restore system frequency to nominal and manage intrahour net-demand variations through AGC.

    Direction
    up
    Full activation
    5 min
    Sustain
    at least 15 min; Minimum delivery 15 minutes; no universal maximum stated
    Trigger / range
    AGC centralized control; requirement covers intrahour variation, minimum AGC reserve and five-minute ramps.
    Eligibility
    AGC-qualified synchronous generation, wind, solar and storage.
    Typical procurement
    132–323 MW (2025)
    Pricing
    Wear-cost offer plus ex-post opportunity and incremental costs

Manual frequency restoration

  • Control Terciario de Frecuencia por Sobrefrecuencia CTF-

    operational

    Restore secondary-frequency-control reserves or add reserve when faster categories are insufficient.

    Direction
    down
    Response starts
    within 5 min
    Full activation
    15 min
    Sustain
    up to 1 h; Maximum delivery 1 hour
    Trigger / range
    Activated by real-time instruction from the Coordinator.
    Eligibility
    Verified generation, wind, solar, storage and eligible free customers/aggregators.
    Typical procurement
    94–633 MW (2025)
    Pricing
    Wear-cost offer plus ex-post opportunity and incremental costs

  • Control Terciario de Frecuencia por Subfrecuencia CTF+

    operational

    Restore secondary-frequency-control reserves or add reserve when faster categories are insufficient.

    Direction
    up
    Response starts
    within 5 min
    Full activation
    15 min
    Sustain
    up to 1 h; Maximum delivery 1 hour
    Trigger / range
    Activated by real-time instruction from the Coordinator.
    Eligibility
    Verified generation, wind, solar, storage and eligible free customers/aggregators.
    Typical procurement
    76–625 MW (2025)
    Pricing
    Wear-cost offer plus ex-post opportunity and incremental costs

Reactive power & voltage

  • Control de Tensión CT

    operational

    Maintain bus voltages and provide reactive power, dynamic voltage support and short-circuit strength where required.

    Direction
    non-directional
    Stated response
    Equipment- and study-specific
    Sustain
    Continuous or as instructed; no single duration
    Trigger / range
    Local voltage-control setpoints and system-study requirements.
    Eligibility
    Synchronous generators, inverter-based resources, synchronous condensers, SVC/STATCOM and reactive compensation equipment.
    Typical procurement
    Local reactive-power requirements by control area and short-circuit-strength requirements by connection bus
    Pricing
    Regulated service remuneration and tender award terms

Black start & restoration

  • Plan de Recuperación de Servicio PA/AR/EV

    operational

    Restore supply following partial or total blackout through autonomous start, rapid islanding and interconnection equipment.

    Stated response
    Facility- and restoration-plan-specific
    Sustain
    Restoration-plan-specific
    Trigger / range
    Partial or total blackout and restoration-plan instruction.
    Eligibility
    Verified black-start generation or storage, islanding-capable facilities and switching/interconnection equipment.
    Typical procurement
    Facility- and zone-specific requirements for autonomous start, rapid islanding and interconnection equipment
    Pricing
    Regulated ancillary-service remuneration or tender award terms for new infrastructure

Emergency control

  • Control de Contingencias EDAC/DMC/EDAG/ERAG/PDC

    operational

    Automatically or manually disconnect load/generation and execute defence plans to arrest critical or extreme contingencies.

    Direction
    non-directional
    Stated response
    Protection- or instruction-specific
    Sustain
    Scheme-specific
    Trigger / range
    Scheme-specific frequency, voltage or contingency logic; for the 2026 EDAC underfrequency plan, the first published stage is 48.9 Hz.
    Eligibility
    Configured loads, generating resources and system protection schemes.
    Typical procurement
    Scheme-specific staged requirements; the 2026 EDAC-BF table totals 25% of load, or 1,883–3,132 MW across six stages
    Pricing
    Direct instruction / regulated treatment

Demand response

  • Cargas Interrumpibles CI

    defined not required 2026

    Reduce free-customer demand during high-load/low-generation conditions, congestion or system emergencies.

    Direction
    up
    Full activation
    30 min
    Sustain
    at least 2 h; Minimum delivery 2 hours; no universal maximum stated
    Trigger / range
    Activated by Coordinator instruction.
    Eligibility
    Free customers individually or through aggregators.
    Typical procurement
    Not required for 2026
    Pricing
    No 2026 procurement; tender terms would apply when required
Getting paid to exist

Does Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile) have a capacity mechanism?

Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile) has 1 capacity/adequacy arrangement: Potencia de Suficiencia. The official sources do not say whether it is a central capacity market. Responsibility sits with Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional / CNE.

Potencia de Suficiencia

operational

Administered remuneration for recognized firm/sufficiency power. It is not a centralized capacity auction.

administrative assignment

Responsibility
Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional / CNE
Unit of obligation
MW of recognized sufficiency capacity
Auction held in 2025
No — No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed.
Where this comes from

Official sources

Rules

Service specification

Market explainer

Capacity-mechanism explainer

Current as of · from the Global Electricity Market Catalogue v1.2.0 (compiled to , CC BY 4.0). Facts belong to the linked official authorities; verify the current rules before design or bidding decisions.

Questions

Common questions about Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile)

Who operates Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile)?
Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional operates Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile), covering Chile.
Was a qualifying capacity event held in Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile) in 2025?
No. Potencia de Suficiencia: no qualifying 2025 event is recorded. No capacity auction for this market was found to have been held during 2025 in the sources reviewed.
How is energy traded, priced and settled in Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile)?
Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (Chile): Centralized least-cost dispatch and hourly marginal-cost spot settlement coexist with bilateral supply contracts; the spot market settles generator injections and withdrawals at marginal node prices. pricing granularity — nodal; settlement interval — 60 minutes.
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