Metlen-Copec Deal Secures Night-Time Solar Supply Across Chile With Batteries

• Greek firm Metlen and Chile’s Copec EMOAC sign a 15-year PPA for four solar-plus-storage projects, delivering 450 GWh a year of clean evening power from 2026.

Greek industrial group Metlen Energy & Metals has taken a decisive step in Latin America, signing a 15-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) with Santiago-based energy trader Copec EMOAC that will guarantee Chile a steady flow of renewable electricity long after the sun goes down. The contract covers the delivery of 450 GWh per year—enough to meet the annual demand of roughly 225,000 Chilean homes—from four solar farms that Metlen is equipping with large-scale battery systems. 

The solar parks—Willka, Doña Antonia, Tocopilla and Tamarico—are already feeding daytime power into Chile’s National Electric System, but will soon host 322 MW of co-located battery energy-storage systems (BESS). Once the batteries are commissioned, scheduled for the second quarter of 2026, the plants will be able to dispatch clean energy between 19:00 and 07:59 in winter and 22:00 and 06:59 in summer, precisely when solar output traditionally tails off and grid prices spike. Metlen says the deal underlines the growing strategic importance of “night-time PPAs” as Chile pushes toward a carbon-neutral grid. 

For Copec EMOAC—an affiliate of fuel-retail giant Copec—the agreement diversifies its trading portfolio with firm renewable blocks, insulating industrial clients from volatile spot prices and fossil-fuel exposure. For Metlen, the contract secures a long-term revenue stream just weeks after the Athens-listed company announced the USD 815 million sale of its entire 588-MW Chilean solar-plus-storage portfolio to a unit of U.S. infrastructure investor Glenfarne. Final close of that transaction hinges on the successful commissioning of the battery systems now backed by the PPA. 

Evangelos Mytilineos, Metlen’s chairman and CEO, called the accord “a blueprint for delivering 24-hour renewable power in markets with abundant sun but limited evening resources.” Copec EMOAC’s general manager, Rodrigo Morales, added that firm solar supply “at night, when demand peaks, is a competitive advantage for our customers and a milestone for Chile’s energy transition.”

Chile already sources more than 35 % of its electricity from renewables, but still relies heavily on imported LNG and coal for evening demand. With auctions for 5 GW of storage-ready solar slated over the next two years, analysts see the Metlen-Copec contract as an early signal that battery-backed PPAs are moving from pilot projects into mainstream commercial practice.