In a country with a longitudinal grid topology, concerns about grid stability can be addressed by the PV industry and “grid-friendly” utilityscale PV plants employing power plant controllers, dynamic voltage power management, frequency droop control, and fault ride-through capacity. Figure 8 illustrates two generation expansion scenarios for the Chilean interconnected power systems. If assumptions about future investment costs for generation technologies are varied, alternative future trends for solar energy can be identified. In the case of a low-investment-cost scenario, a systematic
penetration of solar energy starting in the year 2019 would be possible. It should be noted, however, that the PV output from plants in the Atacama Desert is unaffected during most of the year by cloud-induced fluctuations, and therefore such
controls will not be necessary there. Further, the first interconnection between the northern and central interconnected
systems is being planned for 2017. The storage capacity of hydro units in the south of Chile will thus be available for solar energy compensation in both systems.