Glossary of Chile's power market

The terms we use in our analysis and in our work with clients.

SEN (National Electric System): Chile's interconnected power system, from Arica to Chiloé. It brings together the generation, transmission and demand that operate in a coordinated way.
National Electric Coordinator (CEN): The independent technical body that coordinates the operation of the SEN: it schedules dispatch, oversees system security and administers the economic transfers between companies.
CNE (National Energy Commission): The technical body that sets tariffs, drafts the sector's technical standards and runs supply tenders for regulated customers.
SEC (Superintendence of Electricity and Fuels): The authority that enforces compliance with electricity and fuel regulations.
Marginal cost: The cost of supplying one additional MWh at a given bus at a given time. It is the price reference for energy transfers between generators in the short-term market.
Bus: A point in the grid, usually a substation, where the marginal cost is calculated and energy injections and withdrawals are valued.
Decoupling and congestion: When transmission limits prevent all available energy from flowing, marginal costs in different zones separate. That gap affects generators' revenues and consumers' costs.
Capacity (sufficiency) payment: The payment that recognizes each plant's contribution to securely meeting peak demand.
Ancillary services: Services that allow the system to operate securely and with quality, such as frequency and voltage control or reserves. The Coordinator defines and allocates them.
PMGD (small distributed generation): Plants of up to 9 MW connected to distribution networks, with their own pricing and connection regime.
BESS (battery storage): Systems that store energy in batteries to inject it when the system needs it. Their value depends on operation, contracts and equipment performance over time.
Supply tender: The public process in which the CNE awards long-term contracts to supply regulated customers.
PPA (power purchase agreement): A long-term contract between a generator and an energy buyer, with defined price, volume and delivery terms.
NTSyCS: The Technical Standard for Security and Quality of Service: it sets the technical requirements under which SEN facilities must operate.
Control centre: The facility from which a company supervises and operates its plants or substations in real time, and coordinates with the Coordinator.
ANCI (National Cybersecurity Agency): The authority created by Law 21,663, the Cybersecurity Framework Law, which regulates and oversees the cybersecurity of essential services.
OIV (Operator of Vital Importance): A company the ANCI classifies as critical for the country. It has stricter cybersecurity obligations, such as management systems, continuity plans and incident reporting.