The Montemar substation drew no bids, and a Chilquinta expansion work depends on its construction

Chile's Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional operates the national power system. On Tuesday, November 3 it opened the price bids of the new-works transmission tender under Decreto Exento N°354 de 2025 (Exempt Decree No. 354 of 2025) of the Ministry of Energy. The operator reports 17 of the 19 tendered works in a position to be awarded, 89.5% of the total, with referential investments on the order of USD 500 million. The 2 remaining works, La Invernada and Montemar, were declared void for want of bids.

Competition concentrated in few lots. The operator opened 27 price bids covering 7 project groups and 3 individual projects, which together comprise the 17 works. That is 10 lots and 2.7 bids per lot, by our own calculation. Nine companies bid: Alupar Chile Inversiones, Celeo Redes Chile, Colbún, Cox Chile, Transemel, Engie Energía Chile, Ferrovial Power Infrastructure Chile, Inergy Solutions, and Transelec. The operator publishes the Acta de Adjudicación (award record) on Tuesday, November 10, from 15:00 to 16:00 Santiago time, 12:00 to 13:00 Mexico City time. From that milestone, any party seeking to connect to the new facilities files a connection authorization request under the open-access regime.

The void work drags a second work that already has an owner. The Comisión Nacional de Energía is the technical body that sets tariffs and the lists of works for Chile's power sector. Its oficio ordinario N°912 (Official Letter No. 912) of October 10, 2025 records 3 entries that chain together.

Work	Decree of origin	Zone	Type	Owner	Recorded condition
Nueva S/E Seccionadora La Invernada	No. 229 of 2021	National	New	—	To be tendered by the operator once the 2024 Expansion Plan decree is published
Nueva S/E Montemar	No. 58 of 2024	Zonal C	New	—	To be tendered by the operator
Capacity increase, 1x110 kV Concón–Tap Reñaca line, Concón–Montemar section	No. 4 of 2024	Zonal C	Expansion	Chilquinta Transmisión S.A.	To be tendered by the owners once the operator validates the start-of-construction milestone of Nueva S/E Montemar

Our reading is that Chilquinta's reinforcement on the Valparaíso coast waits for a milestone that only the builder of Montemar can meet, and Montemar still has no taker. La Invernada has been on the list for 5 years, since the 2021 expansion decree, by our own calculation. Any party assessing a connection in the Concón and Reñaca area decides with an enabling work that has no date. For the other 17 works, the clock starts on November 10.

A transmission portfolio Decision System treats a void work as a constraint with a name and an owner, rather than as a pending entry.