Comisión Nacional de Energía in Chile has received two bids for its Kimal-Lo Aguirre transmission line concession. The concession involves the development of a 1,500 km long direct current (HVDC) transmission line connecting Kimal and Lo Aguirre substations located in the Antofagasta and Metropolitana regions.

The following consortiums submitted bids for the concession :

• Meval- Iberdrola Redes España, SAU and Celeo Redes Chile Limitada;
• Yallique- ISA Inversiones Chile SpA, Transelec Holdings Rentas Limitada, and China Southern Power Grid International (HK) Co. Limited;

The selected team will be responsible for the construction of the HVDC transmission line and two AC to DC converter substations near existing stations. The transmission line will run parallel to the existing Kimal-Cardones-Polpaico power line. The expected investment value of the project is US$1.4 billion. Once awarded, construction works will take about 7 years to complete. The project is scheduled to be operational by 2028.