Enel Chile S.A. American Depositary Shares Representing Common Stock (Each representing 50 shares of Common Stock) Q2 2026 Earnings Call
Key Takeaways
- Enel Chile reported resilient first half 2026 results despite lower hydro generation due to weak rainfall conditions, supported by higher renewable generation, Argentina gas supply, and portfolio optimization.
- Hydro generation was below last year but an expected recovery in the second half aims for around 10.7 terawatt hours in 2026.
- Thermal generation increased 5% year over year to 3.6 terawatt hours, supported by firm gas supply agreements and additional LNG volumes secured for the second half of 2026.
- Net electricity generation decreased mainly due to lower hydro output but was partially offset by higher renewable and combined cycle generation, with 67% of production emission free.
- First half 2026 EBITDA reached $685 million, up 4% year on year, driven by stronger gross margin and gas optimization initiatives.
- Net income increased 11% to $272 million in the first half, with second quarter net income up 54%, supported by lower depreciation, amortization, impairment, and financial expenses.
- First half 2026 cash generation (FFO) increased 24% to nearly $500 million, demonstrating strong cash management.
- Gross debt decreased 1.4% to $3.8 billion with an average debt cost of 4.9% and liquidity supported by $640 million in credit lines and $276 million in cash equivalents.
- Capital expenditures doubled to $328 million in the first half, focused mainly on renewables and base projects, grid modernization, and thermal fleet maintenance.
Outlook
- Enel Chile expects hydrological conditions to improve in the second half of 2026, supported by recent rainfall and snow accumulation, maintaining confidence in hydro generation guidance.
- The Electricity Tariff Protection Bill approval provides greater visibility on regulatory receivables recovery, extends the tariff cycle through 2030, and establishes a framework for grid resilience investments.
- The company views the regulatory developments positively as they enhance tariff certainty and support future investments in distribution network resilience.
- Enel Chile remains confident in its gas supply portfolio for the remainder of 2026, having secured firm contracts from Argentina and LNG supply agreements.
- The company anticipates a neutral or wet hydrological year for 2026, which supports their hydro generation outlook.
- Despite intense winter weather, grid operations have remained resilient and in line with expectations.
Guidance
- Enel Chile confirms its 2026 guidance, with no changes expected despite challenging external conditions in the first half of the year.
- The company expects to recover approximately $40 million of PAC receivables in 2026 and the remaining $60 million in 2027.
- Hydro generation guidance remains at around 10.7 terawatt hours for 2026, assuming a neutral hydrological scenario in the second half of the year.
Executive Comments
- CEO Gianluca Palumbo highlighted the importance of portfolio diversification, active portfolio management, and regulatory developments supporting long-term value creation.
- Palumbo emphasized the strategic role of battery energy storage projects and new renewable PPAs in enhancing supply flexibility and portfolio resilience.
- CFO Simone Conticelli noted strong financial discipline, robust cash generation, and focused capital allocation primarily towards renewables, grid modernization, and thermal fleet maintenance.
- Conticelli explained that the increase in EBITDA was driven by gas optimization initiatives, including a key agreement with Shell contributing over $100 million to EBITDA growth.
- Management expressed confidence in managing price volatility through a flexible portfolio combining renewables, storage, thermal generation, and contract management.
- Palumbo described the Electricity Tariff Protection Bill as a significant regulatory development that improves visibility on receivables and supports future investments in grid resilience.
- Conticelli confirmed no risk related to gas supply due to diversified and firm contracts.
- Management indicated that mining demand fluctuations are not structural and the company’s diversified customer base supports resilience.
Q&A
- The Electricity Tariff Protection Bill includes a securitization mechanism for 2020-2024 tariff settlements, extends the tariff cycle through 2030, and introduces a framework for grid resilience investments, expected to improve regulatory visibility and support future investments.
- No specific resilience investment projects are currently ready for submission; work is ongoing.
- Enel Chile’s portfolio strategy focuses on flexibility through battery storage, long-term contracts, and portfolio optimization to manage volatility and capture value.
- The recently signed long-term PPA strengthens portfolio diversification and sourcing flexibility without altering the company’s battery storage growth strategy.
- Hydro generation guidance for 2026 remains unchanged, supported by recent rainfall and snow accumulation, with expectations of a neutral or wet year.
- Gas supply is secured through diversified contracts from Argentina and LNG, with additional LNG cargo secured for the second half of 2026, ensuring sufficient fuel for thermal generation.
- The company confirms 2026 guidance despite a tough first half and remains focused on operational management for the remainder of the year.
- El Nino is not included in the hydro budget; however, it could provide a positive production surprise in the latter part of the year, and the company is prepared to manage potential impacts.
- Enel Chile is monitoring new regulations regarding voluntary renegotiation of regulated PPAs but has no current position.
- PAC receivables total approximately $100 million, with $40 million expected to be recovered in 2026 and the remainder in 2027.
- Battery projects are strategic for portfolio flexibility and value capture; specific return metrics are not disclosed but remain attractive due to evolving technology and market conditions.
- There is no perceived risk related to gas supply due to the structure of gas contracts.
- Lower mining demand is viewed as a temporary adjustment, with the company’s diversified customer base providing resilience.
Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Enel Chile's second quarter and first half 2026 results conference call. My name is Carmen. I'll be your operator for today. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. Please submit your written questions via the webcast chat. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. During this call, we may make statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include Enel Chile S.A.'s current expectations, intentions, plans, beliefs, or projections. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current assumptions and expectations, do not guarantee future performance, and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors.
These factors are described in Enel Chile's press release on its second quarter and first half 2026 results. In the presentation accompanying this conference call, Enel Chile's annual report on Form 20-F on the risk factors. You may access our second quarter and first half 2026 results press release and presentation on our website, www.enel.cl, and our 20-F on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on those forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. Enel Chile undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements or to disclose any development, as a result of which these forward-looking statements become inaccurate, except as required by law. I would now like to turn the presentation over to Ms. Isabela Klemes, Head of Investor Relations of Enel Chile. Please proceed. [Foreign language] Good afternoon.
Welcome to Enel Chile's 2026 second quarter and first half results presentation. Thank you for taking the time to join us today. My name is Isabela Klemes. I'm the Head of Investor Relations. Joining me today are our CEO, Gianluca Palumbo, and our CFO, Simone Conticelli. Our presentation and related financial information are available on our website, www.enel.cl, in the investor section, as well through our investor app. In addition, a replay of the call will soon be available. At the end of this presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions via webcast chat through Ask a Question link. Media participants are connected in listening mode. Gianluca will begin by covering the key highlights of the period, our portfolio management actions, and recent regulatory developments. Simone will provide an overview of our business, economic, and financial performance.
Thank you for your attention. I will now hand the call over to Gianluca.
Thank you, Isabela. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Let me start with the main highlights of the period. First, let me turn to portfolio management. During the first half of 2026, hydro generation was lower than last year, reflecting weaker rainfall conditions across the system, despite a strong El Niño expectation. This impact was partially offset by higher renewable generation, availability of Argentina gas, and active portfolio optimization initiatives, helping us maintain operational flexibility and support our supply commitments. Looking at our medium-term strategy, we continue to advance our portfolio diversification initiatives. Construction of our battery energy storage projects remains on track with approximately 0.5 gigawatts currently under construction. In addition, we signed a new renewable PPA buy that will provide greater flexibility to our supply portfolio, strengthen diversification, and support long-term value creation. Let's now move to the country and regulatory context.
During the quarter, the Electricity Tariff Protection Bill was approved by both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The bill includes a securitization mechanism to address the VAD 2020-2024 tariff settlement process, providing greater visibility on the recovery of regulatory receivables. At the same time, the proposal extends the VAD 2024-2028 regulatory period through 2030, aiming to prevent delays in upcoming tariff review cycles. In addition, the initiative established a dedicated framework to plan investments aimed at enhancing the quality of service for customers by strengthening network resilience. This is an increasingly relevant topic considering the challenges faced by the electricity system in the recent years. Finally, let me turn to business performance. Despite a more challenging operating environment in the quarter, our first half's results remained resilient, supported by active portfolio management and diversification initiatives.
We also maintained a sound liquidity position, allowing us to support our CapEx plan while providing financial flexibility. In the next slide, we will go deeper into each of these areas and provide further details on the key drivers behind these results. Throughout the presentation, we will discuss each of these topics in greater detail and explain the main drivers behind our operation and financial performance. Let's now move to slide four, where I will provide more detail on our sourcing strategy, hydrological conditions, and the progress of our battery energy storage projects. Let me begin with our hydro generation. Hydro generation during the first half was below last year level, as shown on the left-hand side of the slide.
This was due to poor rainfall recorded year to date, even though observations from specialized entities indicate that Pacific Ocean conditions have transitioned into El Niño conditions and are continuing to intensify. For 2026, our hydro generation outlook remains at around 10.7 terawatt-hours, reflecting an expected recovery in the second half of the year. Over the past few weeks, we have seen a significant improvement in hydrological conditions, together with encouraging snow accumulation levels. As a result, we are increasingly confident that our hydro generation target is achievable. Moving now to gas and thermal activities. In thermal generation, we continue to optimize our fuel management strategy, adapting our sourcing and generation portfolio to evolving system conditions. As a result, thermal generation increased by 5% year-over-year, reaching 3.6 terawatt-hours during the first half of 2026.
As you already know, we secured an Argentina firm gas supply agreement covering fixed volumes from January 2026 through April 2027, strengthening fuel availability during the period. During the first half of the year, lower hydro availability and safety operational requirements across the power system increased the need for thermal generation. To support system reliability, security of supply, and cost efficiency, we also secured additional short-term LNG volumes for the second half of 2026. In parallel, we will continue to advance our LNG portfolio optimization strategy, further strengthening flexibility across our sourcing portfolio. Let me now comment on our sourcing agreements. We continue to strengthen our commercial sourcing portfolio through a new long-term buy PPA. This contract will add up to 1 TWh per year of non-solar energy, starting in the second half of 2026.
The agreement has a duration of 15 years and will further enhance supply diversification, while supporting long-term customer demand. This agreement is an example of our flexible make or buy strategy. As we have consistently highlighted, we remain focused on capturing opportunistic and value-accretive sourcing solutions that enhance portfolio diversification and strengthen the value proposition that we offer to our customers. Finally, let me focus on our projects under construction. We continue to advance our BESS projects. Las Salinas, Valle del Sol, and Azabache represent a combined capacity of more than 4,050 MW, reinforcing system flexibility and supporting greater renewable integration across our portfolio. Overall, our active portfolio management approach and diversified sourcing strategy continue to strengthen security of supply, improve cost efficiency and operational resilience, and support our operational commitments. Now let's move to slide five, where we will review our generation mix and energy balance.
Let me now turn to our generation mix and energy balance. As shown on the left-hand side of the slide, net electricity generation decreased compared to the first half of 2025, mainly reflecting lower hydro generation during the period. Hydro generation declined by approximately 1.1 TWh, reflecting weaker hydrological conditions throughout the first half of the year. This impact was partially offset by higher generation from renewables sources, as well as a stronger contribution from our efficient gas-fired combined cycle plants. Moving now to energy balance. Physical energy sales remained broadly stable during the first half of 2026. Our diversified sourcing portfolio allowed us to maintain a solid commercial position, with total sales reaching 14.8 TWh, broadly in line with the 15.1 TWh recorded in the same period last year.
The difference compared to the previous year was driven by a decrease in free market sales, partially reflecting lower demand, mainly from mining customers, among others. During the period, lower hydro generation was offset through a combination of higher thermal generation, strong renewable output, and portfolio management initiatives. On our portfolio mix. The flexibility of our portfolio continues to be one of the key strengths. Although hydro generation was lower, the contribution from combined cycle generation increased from 2.9 TWh to 3.2 TWh, while renewable generation increased from 2.7 TWh to 3.0 TWh. As a result, 67% of our production remained emission-free, demonstrating the resilience and diversification of our generation portfolio. Regarding spot performance. Regarding energy purchases, during the first half of the year, we increased our net spot market purchases mainly during non-solar hours, while purchases from third parties remained at a level like those recorded in the first half of 2025.
Now I would like to move to slide six, where I will discuss the latest developments related to the regulatory framework for the distribution business. Now, let me turn to the latest regulatory developments affecting the distribution business, particularly the Electricity Tariff Protection Bill. During July, the bill received final approval from both chambers of Congress and was sent to the President for promulgation, representing an important step toward addressing pending regulatory matters in the distribution sector. The proposal is relevant for three main reasons. First, it addresses the VAD 2020-2024 settlement. Second, it extends the current tariff cycle by two years to establish a VAD 2024-2030.
Third, it creates a dedicated framework to support grid resilience investments aimed at increasing the quality of services. Regarding the VAD 2020-2024 settlement, the bill establishes a mechanism to normalize and recover outstanding regulatory balances accumulated in the recent years. This mechanism is expected to help distribution companies monetize regulatory receivables over time, while avoiding an immediate impact on regulated customers. For Enel Chile, this process is expected to result in an estimated cash inflow of approximately $70 million, improving visibility of future cash recovery. Moving now to the VAD 2024-2030 tariff framework. The proposal extends the VAD 2024-2028 tariff period through 2030, aiming to prevent delays in upcoming tariff review cycles. For the time being, several implementation details remain under discussion as the legislative and administrative process continues.
We look forward to providing further updates and greater clarity as those discussions progress, including during our upcoming quarterly earnings call. Finally, regarding resilience investments. The bill also introduces a dedicated framework to support investments aimed at strengthening grid resilience by improving quality of service. This is particularly important given the increasing need to reinforce distribution networks and improve the system's ability to respond to extreme weather events and operational contingencies. The proposal is a step in the right direction, despite key implementation details remain to be defined. Overall, we see these regulatory developments as a positive for distribution business, because they provide greater tariff certainty, enhance visibility on regulatory receivables, and support future investments in grid resilience. With this, I will now hand over the presentation to Simone.
Many thanks, Gianluca, and good afternoon, everyone. Let me start with our key financial highlights of the period. As shown on the slide, in the first half 2026, EBITDA reached $685 million, up 4% year-on-year, driven mainly by stronger gross margin performance in our integrated business, while second quarter EBITDA was lower than last year, reflecting weaker hydrology and lower gas sales. Net income reached $272 million in the first half, increasing 17% year-on-year, while second quarter net income grew 54%, supported by lower depreciation, amortization, and impairment expenses, as well as lower financial expenses. Cash generation remained particularly strong. First half FFO increased 24% to nearly $500 million, while second quarter FFO increased 28%, demonstrating the resilience of our business and the discipline of our cash management.
We will go into more detail later in the presentation. Let's move to the next slide to talk about the investment made during the quarter. During the first half of 2026, we invested $328 million, more than doubling our CapEx versus last year. Our capital allocation remained highly focused. Nearly two-thirds of total investment were directed to renewable and BESS, while around 22% was invested in strengthening and modernizing the distribution network. The remaining investment were allocated to maintaining the reliability and availability of our thermal fleet. Let me provide some additional details on our investment allocation. In the renewable segment, our investment were focused on the development of BESS project, in line with the objectives set out in our strategic plan, the optimization of hydro facility performance, and the improvement of fleet availability.
In the thermal segment, the priority continues to be the maintenance and performance enhancement of the power plant fleet. Regarding grids, we continued advancing on the resilient program to strengthen the distribution network and ensure service continuity and readiness. Looking at the CapEx breakdown by nature, first, development CapEx, equal to $196 million, represented 60% of the total spending and were mainly allocated to BESS, which accounted for 80% of the spending, network, representing 13%, mainly related to reliability, quality of services, and digitalization, and hydro plants, which represent 5%, mainly driven by performance enhancement project. Second, asset management CapEx totaled $102 million, accounting for 31% of total CapEx, mainly allocated to the maintenance of Atacama, Quintero, and San Isidro CCGT, the maintenance of renewable fleet aimed at ensuring plant availability, and some activities for the corrective maintenance and digitalization of grids.
Finally, customer CapEx totaled $30 million, mainly invested in low and medium voltage connection project and initiative to support load increase. Now, let me walk you through the key drivers behind our EBITDA performance during the second quarter of 2026. Our EBITDA reached $262 million in the second quarter 2026, a decrease of $32 million compared to the second quarter 2025. The variation is mainly explained by the following factors. Starting with PPA sales, we have a negative impact of $14 million, mainly due to the expiration of old high-prices regulated contracts. Moving to sourcing, we recorded a positive impact of $5 million, mostly thanks to optimization of regasification costs. Energy and transmission resettlement from previous periods and commodity hedges. These effects were partially offset by a higher volume of spot market purchases, mostly due to weaker hydrological conditions.
On the other hand, we recorded a $36 million reduction of the gas margin, reflecting the high impact of gas trading and optimization activity of the second quarter 2025. Turning to grids and other, the $14 million positive variance is due to the one-off effect in personal costs recognized in the second quarter 2025 related to the incentivized early retirement plan, and the optimization of the O&M processes of our renewable facility. These effects were partially offset by the reduction of grids results, reflecting 2025 positive effect of the previous year remuneration recovery. Now let's move on to the next slide to review the EBITDA evolution during the first half of this year. As shown on the slide, EBITDA increased from $659 million to $685 million, despite ongoing challenges in the energy market.
Starting with the integrated business, we recorded an increase of $38 million, mainly due to gas optimization initiative led by the agreement with Shell that contributed more than $100 million to EBITDA growth, demonstrating our ability to unlock value from our gas portfolio under volatile market conditions. Lower natural gas costs that impacted positively on our variable thermal production cost and lower spot energy purchase costs. These positive impacts were partially offset by the expiration of old high-price regulated contracts and the net impact of transmission cost settlements. Moving to grids, we recorded a decrease of $12 billion, mainly due to the positive one-off insurance provision recovery and other one-off positive effects recorded in 2025. The increased maintenance activity aimed at strengthening the resilience and security of the grids, partially offset by an increase in grids margin, also supported by favorable foreign exchange rate effects.
Now let's move on to the next slide to review the net income evolution. In the first half of 2026, our net income amounted to $272 million, an increase of 11% compared to the last year's figure, mainly explained by, first, the already illustrated EBITDA improvement by $26 million. Second, the decrease of depreciation, amortization, impairment, and bad debt expenses by $38 million, mainly due to positive effect from impairment charges recorded during the first half of 2025, along with the recovery of value from certain generation assets previously impaired, partially offset by higher depreciation and amortization associated with the commissioning of new renewable generation capacity. Third, the negative variation for $34 million of financial result, mainly explained by negative foreign exchange differences and lower capitalization in the generation business. Finally, the increase of income taxes for $5 million, mostly due to the improved results.
Focusing on the quarter, net income improved by $38 million, mainly as a result of lower depreciation, amortization, and impairment expenses by $52 million, mainly driven by impairment-related effects on generation assets across comparable quarters. Lower financial expenses by $17 million, thanks to positive foreign exchange effects and increased interest capitalization related to the advancement of BESS projects, partially offset by a $32 million reduction in EBITDA, largely due to lower PPA sales and gas trading performance. Now passing to the next slide, let's analyze the FFO composition. In the first half of 2026, FFO reached $499 million as a result of the following factors. First, EBITDA totaled $685 million, as previously explained. Second, we recorded $32 million of PAC receivables.
Third, the net working capital decreased by $43 million, mainly due to positive effects of payment optimization related to development CapEx, partially offset by seasonality of energy payments and the increase in Enel Distribución receivable. Fourth, financial expenses amounted to $141 million, also including the settlement of hedging derivatives. Finally, income tax payments amounted to $120 million, mainly related to the generation business. Moving to the comparison with the results of the first half of 2025, the 2026 FFO was $96 million higher, mainly thanks to the EBITDA increase for $26 million, a decrease of PAC receivable recovery by $237 million, largely explained by the factoring transaction related to PEC 3 executed in April 2025. The positive net working capital variation of $300 million, mostly due to higher commercial debt related to the newly developed capacity and the positive effects of energy payment optimization.
The higher financial expenses for $59 million and the lower income tax payment for $66 million, net of the negative impact from higher monthly payment tax rates in the generation business. Now let's take a look at our liquidity and leverage position. Our gross debt reached $3.8 billion at the end of June 2026, decreasing by 1.4% compared to the gross margin as of December 2025. This reduction was mainly driven by $150 million of debt amortization related to the inertial debt, partially offset by a $15 million drawdown under the CAF credit facility to support net working capital needs, and $9 million of additional IFRS 16 lease liabilities. The average terms of our debt maturities decreased from 5.8 years recorded in December 2025 to 5.5 years by the end of June 2026, and the portion at a fixed rate was 85% of the total debt.
The average cost of our debt reached 4.9% as of June 2026, in line with December 2025. Regarding liquidity, we are in a comfortable position to support our capital needs for the upcoming months and cope with the next year maturities. As of June 2026, we have available committed credit lines for $640 million and cash equivalent for $276 million. Thank you all for your attention. I will pass the floor to Gianluca for the closing remarks.
Thank you, Simone. Now on slide 15. To conclude, our first half 2026 results once again demonstrate the value of our diversified generation and distribution platform. Despite less favorable hydrological condition, our results remain resilient, supported by disciplined portfolio management, increased renewable generation, and greater fuel flexibility. Second, recent regulatory developments represent an important step for the distribution business. Approval of the Electricity Tariff Protection Bill supports ongoing efforts to address tariff settlements and establish a framework for the future network modernization and resilience investments. In addition, despite the intense winter weather conditions, our grid operations have remained resilient and performed in line with the expectations. Our execution to date confirms that we are on the right track, supported by enhanced operational readiness and a strong focus on service continuity. We will provide a more comprehensive update on our performance during the Q3 call once the season concludes.
As Chile continues to advance toward a more electrified and sustainable economy, we remain well positioned to support this transformation through our integrated presence across generation, distribution, and energy infrastructure. Finally, our strong liquidity position, robust cash generation, and disciplined capital allocation continue to underpin our growth strategy. These strengths allow us to advance key initiatives aimed at strengthening our commercial platform and sourcing portfolio, including battery energy storage projects and new long-term power purchase agreements. At the same time, we will maintain financial discipline and preserve balance sheet strength. Looking ahead, we remain focused on execution, operational excellence, and long-term value creation, supported by a flexible portfolio and a solid financial position. Thank you for your attention. I will now hand it over to Isabella for the Q&A session.
Thank you, Gianluca. Let's move on the Q&A section. We will be taking questions via chat through the webcast. The Q&A session is open. Let me check here. Well, thank you very much for all the questions you have submitted to us. Since a few topics are common, received to both analysts and also via email, I'm going to start with these common questions. I will try to group them together for ease of the discussion. Any remaining details on these topics will be covered as we move through our Q&A session. Our first question is coming, well, for several analysts like Andrew McCarthy from LarrainVial and Fernando Gonzalez from BTG. I'm joining the question. Could you provide an update on the recent approved Electricity Tariff Protection Bill and its implications for the distribution business?
In particular, how should investors think about the VAD 2020-2024 settlement, the extension of the current tariff cycle through 2030, and the new framework support investments aimed at improving services quality and grid resilience? Also, Andrew is requesting if we have any projects ready to submit in terms of the resilience investments. Gianluca, please. Okay. Thank you for the question.
I would like to take a few extra moments on these topics, considering that for us, it is one of the most significant regulatory developments for Chilean distribution sector in recent years. From our perspective, there are three key elements. First, the VAD 2020-2024 settlement. The bill established a mechanism to address pending balances from the previous tariff period, improving visibility on the recovery of the regulatory receivables accumulated in the recent years. For Enel Distribución, this represent approximately $65 million-$70 million. Subject to final implementation process, we currently expect the securitization and factory process to be completed by the end of this year or in early 2027. Second key element is the extension of the tariff cycle. The bill extends the current VAD period through 2030.
While we are still assessing some of the implementation details, we believe this should bring greater regulatory predictability and help us avoid new tariff settlement delays. Third key element, and probably most importantly looking ahead, is the new investment framework for service quality. As I mentioned on our last call, there is a broad consensus across the sector that improving service quality requires a clear mechanism to recognize the investment needed to strengthen and modernize the distribution network. The new framework moves in that direction, opening a potential path to support future investment in grid resilience and service quality, but subject to regulatory approval and tariff recognition. Concluding, while several implementation details still need to be defined, we clearly review this as a positive development for the industry.
For now, we don't have any specific project to share with you, we are working on it.
Okay. Thank you, Gianluca. Now let's go to the second question. This one is also recovered of several analysts. Gianluca, this is also for you. How is Enel Chile evolving its portfolio and sourcing strategy to capture future growth opportunities while maintaining flexibility in an increasingly complex power market? In particular, how do battery storage, long-term energy contracts, and portfolio optimization contribute to management volatility, supporting your commercial growth and creating value?
Okay. Thank you for your question. We are evolving our portfolio to add flexibility, improve resilience, and capture new growth in a more volatile power market like we had in the last months. First, battery storage, or BESS, is now a key part of the portfolio. As we know, it helps us capture more value from renewables, reduce curtailment, shift energy to higher value hours, and add flexibility while making the system more resilient. Second, long-term contracts remain obviously key pillar of our commercial strategy. They give customer stability and help us manage spot market volatility, while a diversified sourcing structure lets us adapt to market conditions and customer demand. Finally, portfolio optimization ties it all together. Therefore, by combining renewables, storage, thermal flexibility, and contract management, let me say, we manage price volatility, optimize sourcing, and support growth.
The goal is not only to protect margins, but to create extra value from the flexibility in our portfolio.
Thank you, Gianluca. Another one also from Andrew McCarthy, from LarrainVial, and the same from Fernando Gonzalez from BTG Pactual. Could you elaborate on the recently announced long-term PPA purchase? What is the strategic rationale behind this agreement, and does it imply any change in Enel Chile's growth strategy, particularly regarding the development of BESS, Gianluca?
Okay. Many thanks for another more interesting question. As indicated during the presentation, this agreement is fully consistent with our long-term strategy and should not be interpreted as a change in direction. First of all, it strengthens our portfolio diversification. Second, enhances our sourcing flexibility, and supports future customer demand. More importantly, this is an important point, it reflects our disciplined make or buy approach, under which we continuously assess both organic and contracting opportunities in order to optimize value creation and risk management. I wanted also that, to be clear, this agreement doesn't imply any change in our BESS strategy. Our battery storage project continue to progress according to plan, and remain a key pillar of our growth strategy, thereby supporting renewable integration, system flexibility, and portfolio resilience. Overall, this is another example of our disciplined execution, keeping us on the right track.
Okay. Thank you, Gianluca. Now, another one from Andrew McCarthy, LarrainVial, another analyst that we receive also here. They are asking now, Simone, this is for you. More details on the hydro generation expected for 2026. One of the question is, we have seen weaker hydrological conditions than initially expected in 2026. Is the Enel Chile full year's hydro guidance at risk, or will the recent rainfall over the last week sustain your projections?
Okay. Thank you, Andrew, for the question. Let me introduce a little bit some color about our budget. The budget is composed of two parts. The first five months, we included in budget in a very dry scenario. Why? Because we are coming from a very dry year, we have been very conservative. For the second part of the year, starting from June, in budget, we are considering a neutral scenario. We set the hydro production at the level of the average production over the last 13 years. So far what happened? Until May, we were well in line with our budget. We are not surprised by the very dry year. We expected first front of rains during June, the rain arrived with a little bit of delay, starting from the 10th of July.
Now we are comfortable in confirming our guidelines for the hydro production because we expect a neutral year. In this moment, all the forecasts say that the year could be neutral or wet maybe. We are confident with our budget.
Thank you, Simone. Let me check. We are receiving more questions. Also on the hydro estimates and also gas, Simone, this is for you. Giving weaker hydrological conditions, evolving system reliability requirements, and tighter gas availability from Argentina during the winter season, how comfortable are you with your fuel position for the remaining 2026? Do you have sufficient gas secured to support thermal generation requirements? Should we expect any additional fuel sourcing or portfolio optimization initiatives during the second half of the year?
Talking about our sourcing strategy in general, specifically sourcing gas strategy, we try not to depend on just one source of gas. We prepared last year, and we have two groups of contracts. Some contracts for natural gas from Argentina, and then the historical contract with Shell for LNG. In any case, we have a very solid portfolio of gas contracts, and then the LNG contracts are firm ones. I mean, firm in terms of volume of transportation at fixed price. This is the core, the core part of the portfolio can fuel our thermal power plant. On the other side, our strategy is to keep on adjusting the portfolio based on the evolution of environment.
In this present week, we also closed a contract for the delivery of another cargo of LNG that will be delivered in the second half of 2026. Based on this, based also on other activities that in case needed, we can put in place, we are very confident that we can go on and fulfill all our needs, not just in the base scenario, also in a stressed one.
Thank you, Simone. We have seen some questions from Alessandro De Vito from Mediobanca. The first one, I will divide. The first one is: Is the company confirm its 2026 guidance?
Another time, let's look at the first half results. The first half was a quite tough period in terms of external input, very dry season with some problem for the system related to gas. Also the price went up in the last part of the half. In any case, our results for the period were well in line, or even a little bit better than expected. This is a proof of the resilience of our portfolio, our preparation. Looking ahead, we can confirm our guidance. We have no element to change our guidance for the remaining part of the year, we are focusing on the management of our operating activities during the coming season.
Thank you, Simone. Another question coming from Isabela Klemes from Bank of America. How do you expect El Niño to impact your operations and financial results this year? Could you give more color on how it has affected Enel Chile in the past and if there is any contingencies, measures, initiatives you are taking?
Thank you, Isabela. We have a little bit talked about hydrology, our budget. What I can comment that El Niño as a phenomenon is not included in our budget in terms of hydrology, extra hydrology. Considering the current situation, we could have also a positive surprise in the next part of the year in terms of production. We are not considering it, thinking about our guidance and everything. From a operative point of view, we are well prepared to manage this kind of phenomena that can intense phenomena. The meteorologists say that the El Niño phenomenon is very probable that we'll have a peak of activities in the last quarter of the years.
I think that we have already shown our preparation during the first half, thinking about the distribution area, but also the generation area is ready to manage intense phenomena in the second part of the year.
Okay. Thank you, Simone. Now going to a question made by Fernando Gonzalez from BTG. The question is: Would you be willing to voluntary renegotiate regulated PPAs with the CNE? If so, under which terms?
Okay. Hello, Fernando. Thanks for the question, really, it's a little bit too early to talk about our posture about this new piece of regulation. We are waiting for operative deployment of the regulation, we are keep on monitoring the regulation, how it will evolve.
Okay, thank you. Let's see. We are receiving more questions. Just a second here. Also another one is from Alessandro Di Vito, Mediobanca. Can you remind us which is now the total stock of the PAC receivables and the updated trajectory of the recovery?
Okay. Thanks, Alessandro. Talking about the PAC. As you know, the last PAC to be recovered is the PEC 1 that will be recovered through the tariff. The deadline to recover all the receivable is end of 2027. This year, we open with a stock of more or less $100 million. So far, we have recovered a part of this. We should recover more or less $40 million during the year and the last $60 million in the next year.
Okay. Thank you. Another one also from Alessandro, following up: Could you provide some granularity on the returns you are observing on batteries in Chile? Could you also share the evolution you are observing on unitary CapEx for battery packs? Gianluca? Yes. Thank you, Alessandro.
We are not opening the returns as it too strategic. That said, we are not disclosing specific return metrics for battery projects beyond what has been communicated publicly. In terms of CapEx, we consider an average of more or less 0.9 million per dollar per megawatt. Nevertheless, each technology is consistently evolving and is affected by commodity prices and global geopolitical conditions. Batteries remain a very attractive opportunity in Chile, primarily because they improve portfolio flexibility, allow us to capture value from intra-day price spreads, reduce renewable curtailment, and optimize the use of our renewable generation fleet. Batteries are a strategic part of our growth and flexibility strategy, and we continue to see compelling opportunities supported by improving technology economics and the need of a Chilean power system.
Okay. Thank you, Gianluca. Another one that we also received. It's about the gas. Did you see some risk related to lower gas supply in Chile?
Thank you, Rodrigo. We do not see a risk related to gas supply. Due to our contract structure of gas contract, we cannot disclose further details due to strategic reasons.
Okay. Thank you, Gianluca. Moving on, we have one coming from Jay Samani from Scotiabank. Any insights on why you are seeing lower demand from mining companies given copper prices? Does the decline in free customer sales change management's confidence in capturing incremental demand from mining companies? Simone? Okay, thanks, Jay. Regarding the lower mining consumption, really, we do not see the structural phenomena, just some adjustment of some customer, but related to very specific topics.
In general, mining is, for us, a very important sales segment. In any case, our sales portfolio is spread all over many kind of customers. We can say that we are quite resilient just in case some segment have some problem and has to reduce the consumption.
Okay. Thank you, Simone. As we do not have any further questions, I would like to conclude this results conference call. Let me remind you that the investor relations team remains available to address any questions you may have. Thank you for your attention, and we look forward to seeing you soon again. Bye-bye. This concludes our conference.
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