As of the end of 2025, Chile had around 11.7GW of cumulative solar PV installs, including 1.2GW added last year. Almost two-thirds of that capacity is in the northern Atacama and Antofagasta regions.
The growth of solar and wind has led to widespread curtailment of renewable generation during times when the grid cannot absorb it all. According to renewable energy and storage trade association ACERA, more than 6TWh of solar and wind was curtailed during 2025.
However, without energy storage, which Chile has been relatively fast in adopting, that number would have been more than 8TWh, ACERA said, forecasting that the Latin American country will have around 9GW of operational BESS by 2027, with an average 4-hour duration.
ContourGlobal said that its Los Maitenes asset will mitigate curtailment risk as well as delivering firm energy during peak demand in hours when solar isn’t being generated. The IPP has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with an undisclosed offtaker, which will buy daytime and nighttime blocks of energy, although some capacity will be retained for merchant market opportunities.
ContourGlobal CEO Antonio Cammisecra said the project builds on a business model called ‘Sun at Night,’ which, as the name implies, means delivering solar energy to the grid during non-solar peak demand hours.
