Site control for solar, wind, BESS and transmission projects in Chile
We screen sites, negotiate options, leases and easements with each landowner, and record them with the Conservador de Bienes Raíces, the local land registry. On our own estate, Estancia El Chañar in the Coquimbo Region, we are the landowner under a wind farm lease, a solar PV land option and more than ten recorded easements.
What we do at each stage
Six stages, in the order a project needs them. Your Chilean counsel or ours reviews and signs off on every legal document.
1. Site screening
We screen your target area with public data for distance to the grid, slope, access and land constraints.
- You receive
- A parcel shortlist with tax roll numbers, apparent owners and red flags.
- You decide
- Which parcels to approach, and in what order.
2. Title and encumbrance review
We pull the Conservador certificates and trace each chain of title, including estates, co-owners, mortgages and recorded prohibitions.
- You receive
- A land matrix, parcel by parcel, ready for project counsel.
- You decide
- Go or no-go on each parcel, on project counsel's title opinion.
3. Negotiation and option
We make first contact, keep terms consistent across the landowner group and close each option by public deed.
- You receive
- Signed options, each with a restriction on transfer recorded against the parcel.
- You decide
- Option payments, rent and term, and every draft before an owner sees it.
4. Lease, easements and recording
When you exercise an option, we take the lease and easement deeds through the notary and record them at the Conservador.
- You receive
- Recorded leases and easements, with the certificates that show them.
- You decide
- When to exercise each option, and the final text of each deed.
5. Permits and line routes
We obtain the landowner signatures that permits depend on, and negotiate gen-tie and access road easements along the route.
- You receive
- The land file for the rural construction approval (Art. 55 LGUC) and the environmental review.
- You decide
- Plant layout and line route, with your engineers and environmental consultant.
6. Land administration
We track rent payments and UF indexation, send notices, and process assignments and lender consents.
- You receive
- A register of contracts and payments, kept current for the life of the project.
- You decide
- Assignments, amendments and any change to the project company.
We work for one party per engagement, and only that party pays us. Independence rules
Land services by project type
Solar and wind
Screening criteria, the usual contract structure, rural land-use permits and the land risks that drive timing.
Land for solar and windBattery storage (BESS)
Small sites next to a substation, and the rural land-use rules for storage under Circular DDU 522 and Art. 55 LGUC.
Land for BESSTransmission lines and gen-ties
Easements with every owner along the route, the electric concession as a backstop, and appraisal when there is no agreement.
Transmission easementsThe process, stage by stage
What we do at each stage, what you receive, what we need from you and what the timing depends on.
Land acquisition process
How Chile differs from the US, Europe and China
Six Chilean rules that change how a project's land is secured, each with the law that sets it.
| Topic | What you may be used to | How it works in Chile | What we do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title and recordingNote 1 | Title insurance, an ALTA/NSPS survey and a land register searched by parcel. | Each Conservador indexes records by the parties' names. Title insurance is not standard practice; counsel's title study usually covers at least 10 years. | We agree the review horizon with project counsel and your lender before ordering certificates, so the study is done once. |
| Minerals and waterNote 2 | Mineral and water rights checked as part of the land title. | Mining concessions and water use rights are separate from land ownership. A mining concession can burden the parcel with easements, subject to compensation. | We check the Sernageomin mining cadastre and the water rights records at screening, and flag overlaps before you sign. |
| Statutory easementsNote 3 | Eminent domain or utility condemnation. | Solar and wind plants are not subject to electric concessions, so the plant site is negotiated. Lines and substations with a concession can impose easements. | For lines, we negotiate voluntary easements first and prepare the parcel data in case the route needs a concession. |
| State landNote 4 | Leases or grants of public land from a land agency. | The Ministry of National Assets (Bienes Nacionales) grants state land by paid concession, for up to 50 years, to Chilean legal entities. | We flag state parcels at screening, so you can weigh a concession against nearby private land. |
| Indigenous landNote 5 | Tribal or indigenous land with its own approval rules. | Indigenous community land cannot be leased, and an individual's indigenous land only for up to five years. Encumbering it requires CONADI authorization. | We check the CONADI land registry at screening and flag communities near the site, since direct effects on them lead to consultation. |
| Foreign ownershipNote 6 | Reviews or limits on foreign ownership of land. | Foreigners may own and lease land as Chileans do. Border zones restrict rural leases to foreigners and ownership by neighboring-country nationals. | We check whether the site lies in a border zone before outreach, and raise any structuring question with project counsel. |
Sources
- 1Ley del Registro Conservatorio de Bienes Raíces, arts. 31, 32 and 41; Civil Code, art. 2511 (extraordinary prescription of real property: 10 years).
- 2Mining Code, arts. 2, 120 and 122; Water Code, arts. 6 and 114.
- 3General Electricity Services Law (LGSE), arts. 2, 3, 14 and 51.
- 4Decree-Law 1.939 of 1977, arts. 57, 61 and 62.
- 5Ley 19.253 (Indigenous Law), art. 13; DS 40/2012 (environmental assessment regulation), art. 85; ILO Convention 169, art. 6.
- 6Constitution, art. 19 No. 23; Ley 20.848, art. 9; Decree-Law 1.939, art. 7; Decree-Law 993, art. 3.
Laws cited, at the Library of the National Congress of Chile (bcn.cl): Constitution · Civil Code · Ley del Registro Conservatorio · Mining Code · Water Code · LGSE · DL 1.939 · Ley 19.253 · DS 40/2012 · ILO Convention 169 · Ley 20.848 · DL 993.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a surface right (derecho de superficie) in Chile?
No. The plant site is held under a lease by public deed, recorded with the Conservador, with easements for access roads and lines. A template built on a surface right or an emphyteutic lease has to be redrafted on that basis. The Civil Code lists the real rights, and a general surface right is not among them (Civil Code, art. 577).
Do I need site control to file an interconnection request in Chile?
Not to file it. Land title is not among the minimum contents of a connection request to the Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional, Chile's system operator (DS 37/2019, art. 15). To declare the project under construction, the National Energy Commission (CNE) requires title to the land or a promise agreement (DS 125/2017, art. 19), and the Coordinador can revoke the approval if those filings come late (DS 37/2019, art. 25).
What do lenders review on the land before financial close?
Each lender sets its own requirements, and there is no public Chilean standard. We prepare the land file for that review: the title study, to the horizon your lender asks for; leases recorded before any mortgage, since only then do they bind the mortgagee (Civil Code, art. 1962); recorded easements; and the owner's written consent to assign a rural lease (DL 993, art. 7).
Are deeds signed in Spanish, and can we sign under a power of attorney granted abroad?
Yes to both. Public deeds are executed in Spanish, so any English version is a courtesy translation (Código Orgánico de Tribunales, art. 404). A power of attorney granted in a country that is party to the Apostille Convention needs an apostille, not consular legalization (Ley 20.711).
Do you work outside the Coquimbo Region?
Yes. Our direct field experience is in the Coquimbo Region, and the stages and instruments are the same throughout Chile because the laws behind them are national. In other regions we work with local surveyors and notaries, and our proposal names them before you engage us.
Related insights
- How to secure land for a solar, wind or BESS project in Chile
Private or state land, the instruments that hold a site, and the risks to screen early.
- Title due diligence in Chile for energy projects
How the Conservador registers work, which certificates to order and how far back the review goes.
Send us the project basics
Technology, MW, target region, development stage and target COD. If you already have parcels or a substation in view, include them.
We sign a non-disclosure agreement before we receive any documents.