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The German Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Olaf Scholz, visited Chile as a part of his first visit to Latin America on the 29th and 30th of January, in order to present the opportunities and challenges of collaboration between Chile and Germany in the field of energy transition.
On the second day of his visit, prior to the Chilean-German business meeting, the German Chancellor took part in a private meeting with four executives of the Chilean renewable industry, where the CEO and founder of Suncast, Constanza Levicán, was invited to participate to express her point of view of the challenges Chile has to face to achieve a renewable energy matrix and accelerate the energy transition, as well as addressing the importance of technological innovation.
The event was organized by the German embassy in Chile, Business Council Chile and the German-Chilean Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK Chile). The private meeting also featured the participation of Ana Lía Rojas, executive director of ACERA A.G.; María Teresa González, CEO of Statkraft Chile and president of Generadoras de Chile; and Pablo Caerols, General Manager of Enor Chile.
In response to this, the founder of Suncast highlighted that the conversation she held with the Chancellor was very interesting and precise in relation to the current challenges within the Chilean electricity market. “We mentioned to the Chancellor the difficulties caused by the congestion in the transmission, the installation of new projects in the territories, and the country’s vision to continue increasing renewable energies and storages”, she said.
“In particular, I commented that there are opportunities for Chile to have a more modern electricity market, especially in regard to the electrical distribution, where if we make progress in digitalization, we could implement new digital marketing models, such as the aggregation of demand and the virtual power plants (VPP), which Germany has implemented approximately 10 years ago”, she stated.
In this regard, Suncast has already had the opportunity to approach the German market, being the award-winning startup of the final Pitch Session of the Deeptech Soft Landing Week program held in 2021 organized by ProChile and the German university Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT). This opportunity allowed Suncast to broaden their vision of the world’s most important solar power plant markets, given that their experiences and marketing models are an important aid for future implementations in this area for Latin America.
Common energy transition and sustainable development challenges between both nations
Both Chile and Germany have focused their interests on promoting the growth of renewable energies, both in Latin America and in Europe, in order to boost the transformation of their sectors towards carbon neutrality. While both nations are pioneers in their regions in means of renewable energies, they still depend on the imports of fossil fuels, situation that is further aggravated by international conflicts and Climate Change.
In this context, during the Chilean-German business meeting, Chancellor Scholz emphasized that “the implementation of reasonable social and environmental regulations constitute an opportunity for the commitment of German and European companies here in Chile. Not long ago, we enacted a law in Germany that demands due diligence for determined supply chains. This is because we are firmly convinced that alliances only work in a stable manner if they are sustainable, if all environmental protection regulations are met, and if they provide benefits to all.”
The European Union and the Government of Chile recently announced an agreement to modernize the pact that regulates their commercial relations, which also includes possible investments and enhance sustainable cooperation and political dialog, in aspects related to labor standards and sustainable development.