Repsol notes an accounting hole of almost 300 million in its wind farm in Chile due to the saturation of the network

Companies like Repsol, whose business rises or falls at the risk of a raw material as changeable as crude oil, are used to reacting to unexpected plot twists. Now, the energy company has had to apply that same logic to its renewable business. In one year, the multinational has gone from celebrating the commissioning of the most powerful wind farm in its portfolio, to recording an accounting hole of almost 300 million euros for this asset.

The Antofagasta project, in Chile, was designed to produce the equivalent of the consumption of 220,000 homes in the country. But, for reasons beyond the control of the company, it is operating at half throttle. And the Chilean electrical grid is so saturated that it cannot absorb the electricity coming from its wind turbines, which has disrupted the original business plan.

"Following its entry into commercial production, the cash flow forecasts for the project have been revised due to the structural situation of congestion in the network, which is causing high levels of production restrictions," the company states in its semiannual report.

In many of the countries that have experienced rapid and massive deployment of renewables, mainly photovoltaics, technical restrictions are increasing. That is, the generators are being ordered to stop because the grid is not capable of absorbing their electricity. There is more energy than demand and, consequently, discharges, as wasted electricity is known in the jargon of the sector, skyrocket.

Spain, for example, in the first half of 2026 wasted three times as much clean energy as the previous year, according to the consulting firm Aurora. In Chile, spills are rampant. In the first two months of 2026, the figure recorded a year earlier doubled. More than 40% of that electricity that goes down the drain in the Andean country is concentrated, precisely, in Antofagasta, the region where the Repsol park is located.

The oil company explains that the spills are affecting "particularly the northern area", where congestion has worsened, "fundamentally, due to the increase in renewable generation." The underlying problem is that the Chilean network is not prepared to transport all the green energy that is generated in the northern area to the central area, where demand is concentrated. Repsol has admitted that the situation has no signs of reversing.

Phase two, in siding

Chile is a central market in Repsol's green strategy. It entered the country in 2020 thanks to Ibereólica, a Spanish renewables group that already had projects in the Andean territory. Both formed a joint venture (Repsol Ibereólica Renovables Chile). In 2023, the company led by Josu Jon Imaz decided to break that mold with the Antofagasta park and took over 100% of the asset by buying the part that he did not control from his partner. This project has been the first developed entirely by Repsol in Chile.

The total investment associated with this wind colossus was around 680 million euros, although the plan contemplated two phases. Repsol spent 400 million euros on the first, with an installed capacity of 364 MW, which began operating in April of last year.