Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Enel Chile's full-year and fourth-quarter 2023 results conference call. My name is Carmen, and I will be your host 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. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear a message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw the question, press star one one again. Please note that today's conference is being recorded. During this conference call, we may make statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements reflect only our current expectations, are not guarantees of future performance, and involve risk 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 reporting its full-year and fourth-quarter 2023 results, the presentation accompanying this conference call, and Enel Chile's annual report on Form 20-F included under risk factors. You may access our full-year and fourth-quarter 2023 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 undertakes 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.
Buenas tardes. Good afternoon, and welcome to Enel Chile's 2023 fourth quarter and full-year results presentation. Thank you all for joining us today. Joining me this morning is our CEO, Fabrizio Barderi, and our CFO, Giuseppe Turchiarelli. As announced yesterday by our Board of Directors, today is the last day of our CEO, Fabrizio Barderi, after two years in charge of our company, assuming a new position within Enel S.p.A. in Italy. During the period that the new CEO shall be designed, Giuseppe Turchiarelli shall step in as interim CEO of Enel Chile. I take the opportunity to thank you, Fabrizio, for all his contributions to our company over the years. Now, our presentation and related financial information are available on our website www.enel.cl in the Investors section and in our app, Investors. In addition, a replay of the call will be soon available.
At the end of this presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions via phone or webcast chat through the link "Ask a Question." Media participants are connected only in listening mode. In the following slides, Fabrizio will open the presentation with our key highlights of the period, then go through our portfolio management actions, regulatory context updates, and guidance achievements. Finally, Giuseppe will give us a view of our business economic and financial performance. Thank you all for your attention, and now let me hand over the call to Fabrizio.
Thank you, Isabela. Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us. Let's start our presentation with our main highlights on slide 3. I want to start with our portfolio management highlights. During the year, we added around 600 MW of new renewable energy capacity, including our first BESS project. All these additions will support us in our long-term ambition of decarbonization and the continued optimization of our portfolio. As of today, we have received a commercial operation date, the COD, from the system operator for around 1.4 GW, which is in line with our expectations announced in our last two investor statements. This year, we had a remarkable performance of our generation portfolio. The better-than-expected hydrology due to the El Niño phenomenon and all the gas trading activities, outstanding performance supported the achievement of our goals and targets. On the regulatory side, we have some important news to share.
First, the Chilean government presented a draft bill to Congress introducing the stabilization mechanism, the PEC 3.0, a very important positive and important sign of stability to the energy market. At the same time, the regulator has published the final technical distribution report, referring to the 2020-2024 cycle. This step was very important to reduce eventual uncertainty to the distribution business remuneration. I will deep dive into both topics later. Finally, I am pleased to announce that we beat all our financial targets for 2023, which reflects our confidence in Enel Chile's future and solidity. Giuseppe will give you more color on this. To conclude, during 2023, we recovered around $358 million related to the stabilization mechanism, the PEC 2, and closed the Arcadia project, which represented around $180 million as positive impact in our net income.
Now, let us move to slide 4 to review how we executed our goals and strategy toward a more efficient generation portfolio mix. Over the last few years, we have significantly increased our renewable capacity through a diversified pipeline across different areas of the country, increasing our exposure to solar close to the center of consumption, to wind, and more recently, to storage. During 2023, we connected almost 600 MW of additional net capacity. In Q4, we connected 106 MW related to the last phase of our solar plant, Sierra Gorda, 34 MW of La Cabaña BESS, and 39 MW of some solar PMGDs. During the year, we have also executed some asset rotation in the form of the sale of 416 MW of solar generation assets to Sonedix in the north of Chile and the sale of our Huasco gas turbine power plant.
Both were initiatives aimed at optimizing our portfolio and recycling our capital. Regarding costs, since January 2023, we have received the authorization from the National Electricity Coordinator to begin commercial operation for 1.4 GW. This includes projects such as Campos del Sol, Valle del Sol, Finis Terrae, Guanchoi, Renaico II , and the recently announced El Manzano and La Cabaña. Now, let's look at some updates on the hydrological situation and gas optimization activities on slide five. Favorable hydrological conditions during 2023 allowed us to reach a higher-than-expected hydroproduction, exceeding by 25% the level recorded in 2022, and totaling 12.2 terawatt-hours of hydrogeneration, a scenario that we had not seen since 2010. The hydrological situation in our reservoirs is also very positive, year-to-date, once compared to last year's figures, especially in the south. We have included an updated view of our reservoir levels in the annex of our presentation.
Rainfall during 2023 surpassed the last 10-year average period, allowing us to have comfortable water availability until the end of the first quarter of 2024. In fact, as of February 1st, 2024, water available for generation was equivalent to 1,800 GWh, 150 GWh more than the same date in 2023. Regarding our gas optimization and trading activities, we have guaranteed natural gas and LNG supply to our fleet and executed some very profitable sales to local industrial and mining customers and also to foreign markets. The foreign market sales were negotiated during 2022 at very attractive prices, and the deliveries were mainly concentrated during the first and the fourth quarters of 2023, totaling four cargoes sold abroad. All the above contributed around $300 million as margins for 2023. For 2024, we also see the situation as very comfortable.
For reference, we have already executed a new firm agreement with several Argentine gas suppliers for up to 4 million cubic meters per day that are already in operation from October 1st until end of April 2024, allowing us to optimize our combined cycle generation costs. In addition, we have already secured new agreements for the 2024 winter period with Argentine suppliers for up to 2.6 million cubic meters per day from May to September 2024, giving us security to optimize our portfolio during 2024. Now, let's look at some important updates related to the regulatory context on slide six. In January this year, the Ministry of Energy presented a draft bill related to the stabilization energy mechanism with the purpose of continuing the PEC mechanism and mitigating the projected tariff increases to final customers.
At the same time, they aim to improve the client protection mechanism known as the MPC mechanism to allow gradual repayment of accumulated debt with the generators and establish a transitory subsidy for the most vulnerable clients. Also, during January, the draft bill was reviewed and approved by a special energy commission from the Senate. And now, after the Congress annual leave that ends during the month of February, the draft will be discussed first in the Senate plenary and then in the Chamber of Deputies. Let me say that we consider the government proposal very solid and aligned with Chile's position and goals in incentivizing investments towards the decarbonization. Let me quickly explain the PDL proposal, starting with how this mechanism is financed. The PDL considers three sources of financing. First, a temporary state subsidy until 2026 of total $20 million per year.
Then, the public service charge, which involves the regulated and free clients and that amounts to around $200 million annually. And finally, the climate protection mechanism charge that would be applied only to regulated customers up to 2035. Both charges shall have different fees depending on the consumption of each client. With this finance mechanism in place and also the gradual increase in the tariffs, which will depend on the client's consumption, shall support the recovery of the generator's accounts receivable generated since the enforcement of PEC 1 and PEC 2. In our case, on December 31st, we had an account receivable related to the PEC receivables factoring of $759 million. In addition, the PDL has confirmed that PEC 1 settlements shall occur up to 2027.
The PDL modified the PEC 2 by extending the settlement limit period from 2032 to 2035 and increasing the total amount of the fund by $3,700 million, totaling $5,500 million. We expect that the PDL will be approved and published soon in the first semester of 2024, considering the urgency of the decision and the fact that the next regulatory auction is scheduled to be held during August. Regarding the distribution tariff review, the regulatory final report for the 2020-2024 cycle was published early this month of February, and the tariff decree on the distribution 2020-2024 remuneration cycle shall be published within the next few months. Let me say that we had a more positive view of the process once compared to its beginning. Additionally, by November 2024, we shall start the distribution regulatory cycle comprising the 2024-2028 period.
We are still at the very beginning of this process. Currently, the external consultant responsible for realizing the reference model company study has started its work. The result of this study shall be known in the following months. Now, let us move to slide 7 to review our main KPIs of 2023 versus our guidance. In terms of renewables and BESS execution, we have achieved our goals, reaching 77% of renewables and BESS contribution in our metrics on 31st December 2023, contributing to our commitment to the country's energy transition. The latter also enabled us to reach our goal of 74% greenhouse gas-free production over the total during 2023.
Let me point out that our efforts intending to improve efficiency and quality of service in the distribution business have led us to decrease indicators such as SAIDI and also to achieve our goal regarding network losses despite a more complex market scenario. On the electrification efforts, we have also achieved our goals. Now, let us review on slide 8 our main financial indicators versus our 2023 guidance. During 2023, we experienced a significant improvement in our operation, mostly explained by a more efficient generation mix related to a better hydrological situation and the contribution of our optimization portfolio actions planned, developed, and executed during the last year. The latter, coupled with the conclusion of optimization initiatives such as the sale of Arcadia last October, enabled us to achieve our EBITDA and net income commitment.
On the last financial indicator, we have reached the upper range of the guidance announced during 2023 investor dates. Giuseppe will provide details on our performance on EBITDA and net income in the following slides. All the above guaranteed our leverage and net debt to EBITDA commitment, making us comfortable recommending the maintenance of the committed payout, which was also the company's board of directors' recommendation and was also in line with our guidance. Now, I will hand over the call to Giuseppe. Giuseppe, the floor is yours.
Many thanks, Fabrizio. Good afternoon to all our investors connected. I will start my presentation with a summary of our main results of the period. To better evaluate our company earnings performance, we present the 2022 figures as a pro forma that includes the following adjustments.
First, the full year 2022 EBITDA has been adjusted by the impairment of the cold stock in the write-off of generation project, totaling $124 million. This adjustment worth $63 million in the Q4. Likewise, this adjustment affected the bottom line by a total of $83 million in the full year and $41 million in the Q4 of 2022. Additionally, we have excluded from these figures, in order to better evaluate the operational performance of our company, two one-off facts: the operational results and capital gain of the sales of Enel Transmission and the impact of the agreement with Shell, both executed in December 2022, totaling $643 million in the full year and $568 million in the Q4. This adjustment affected the bottom line by a total of $1,230 million and $1,185 million in the full year and in the Q4, respectively.
Regarding the FFO, the figures for 2023 and 2022 have been adjusted only by the sales of Enel Transmission. It means that 2022 figures include the Shell agreement. In 2022, in terms of cash, the adjustment amounted to $20 million in the full year and $2 million in the Q4. In 2023, we have excluded $310 million paid in taxes on capital gain obtained from these transactions. Considering these adjustments, let's see how the earnings indicator and FFO perform. As you can see, in the full year period and the fourth quarter of 2023, our earnings indicator presents an important improvement compared to the 2022 figures. Regarding EBITDA and net income, the improvement is mainly explained by a more efficient generation mix thanks to the outstanding hydro and renewable performance and due to greater gas trading activity. We will see more detail in the following slides.
Regarding the FFO, the 2023 full year figures show a relevant improvement impacted mainly by the PEC 2 factoring executed for around $345 million and other cash management optimization actions. Let me remind you that the Q4 2022 FFO includes $520 million Shell agreement. We will see more detail later on. Let's review now the progress on CapEx. Our 2023 total CapEx reached $804 million, basically in line with our guidance for the year. I would like to highlight that 78% of our total CapEx was related to the renewable and storage, in line with our strategy of rebalancing our portfolio to adapt it to the new market context. In addition, 15% of our CapEx was mainly related to client new connection in Greece, considering the growth in our customer base. Customer CapEx totaled $78 million, 7% higher than the previous year, mainly associated with the new customer connection.
Asset management CapEx reached $129 million, 36% lower than previous year, mainly due to lower maintenance activity in conventional generation plants and distribution business. Development CapEx reached $597 million, representing a decrease of 33% versus last year figures, in line with the remaining renewable portfolio under construction. Let's now take a look at slide 12, where we have the summary of the fourth quarter 2023 EBITDA breakdown, accounting for $471 million. First of all, let me remind you that we have included the figures of our fourth quarter 2022 EBITDA for comparison purposes. We have excluded from the 2022 EBITDA the impact of the one-off effect from the sales of Transmission Chile and the agreement signed with Shell.
Taking this into consideration, our fourth quarter 2023 EBITDA was around $71 million higher than 2022 performance, mainly explained by the following: first, a positive contribution from hydro and renewable assets totaling $41 million, mainly related to the improved hydrology in the quarter. Second, a positive effect of $83 million on variable costs, mainly explained by a lower withdrawal spot price, lower transmission fees, and savings due to lower fuel consumption, both as a consequence of the better hydrology in the period. In addition, a positive contribution of $80 million related to the gas optimization activity, mainly due to increased gas trading activity for 0.9 TBtu made in Q4 2023, at a very interesting prices negotiated in the end of 2022 when the international prices were very attractive.
The above-mentioned effects were partially offset by: $115 million from lower PPA sales in Q4 2023, primarily due to lower average PPA price, mainly related to lower commodity indexation in the regulated market, $18 million in OpEx and other costs, mainly explained by our new renewable capacity, inflation across all the businesses, and negative effects in Enel X due to a higher recognition of gross margin in 2022, partially offsetting the positive effect in distribution margin of $3 million, mainly due to the indexation. Let's move on to the next slide, where we will review the full year EBITDA breakdown summary, accounting for $1,237 million.
In the full year 2023, our EBITDA increased $358 million versus 2022 performance, mainly explained by the following effects: first, a positive contribution from hydro and renewable totaling $213 million, mainly related to improved hydrology volumes. Second, a positive effect of $94 million in variable costs, mainly explained by a lower spot price in the period due to a better hydrology since June 2023. A one-off effect of an agreement with one of our PPA suppliers and lower transmission fees, partially offset by a lower thermal generation margin. In addition, a positive effect of $81 million related to the gas optimization activities, mainly due to increased gas trading activities from 1 TBtu in the full year. And finally, a positive contribution of $27 million in grid margin, mainly due to grid remuneration related to indexation, lower fines and compensation, and higher demand.
The above-mentioned effects were partially offset by: $17 million from lower PPA sales in the full year 2023, mainly due to lower average PPA price due to indexation, partially offset by higher capacity payments in the year, $41 million in OpEx and other costs, mainly in generation business, explained primarily by our new renewable capacity and maintenance of plants, and inflation across all the business. Let's move on to slide 14 to take a look at our generation business main KPIs. Net electricity totaled 24.1 TWh as of December 2023, exceeding by 9% the production during 2022, mainly due to higher hydro and solar generation, resulting from the improved hydrology and the addition of new projects, respectively. This also offsets the lower thermal dispatch, mostly relating to the disconnection of Bocamina II in September 2022.
If we exclude the production of Bocamina II in 2022, the real increase in the company generation was equivalent to a growth of 15%, coming mainly by hydro and renewable growth contributions. During Q4 2023, net generation grew by 15% to 6.6 TWh, mainly due to higher hydro, solar, and wind generation. Our energy sales totaled 30.9 TWh in 2023, 0.5% higher than the level recorded in 2022, primarily due to higher sales to free customers. It is worth mentioning that our commitments with our clients were fulfilled with a higher portion of our renewable generation, which also led us to lower energy purchases in the spot market, mainly at the non-solar hour. During Q4 2023, physical energy sales increased by 2.2% to 7.6 TWh, mainly due to higher sales to free customers.
Let me point out that during the last quarter of 2023, our increased renewable production also allowed us to reach zero net purchases in the spot market. Now, on slide 15, let's go through the main drivers of our group net income. Our net income increased by 66%, excluding the net impact of Arcadia sales of $183 million versus last year's performance figures.
Let me drive you through the main effects: a greater EBITDA of $358 million, as already explained, higher depreciation and amortization of $222 million, mainly resulting from our new renewable project in operation, which was offset by lower depreciation in Enel Transmission, mainly as a consequence of new investment in power plants that increased the average useful life of property, plant, and equipment, higher amortization in tangible assets in Enel Distribución due to the new IT system development, partially offset by lower depreciation and amortization due to the sales of Enel Transmission in December 2022, and lower bad debt, mainly related to the client's net debt recovery due to several commercial actions.
Regarding financial results and net investment, we recorded a $35 million improvement, primarily explained by: $98 million related to higher interest and adjustment due to PEC 2 recognition; $10 million mainly due to equity income linked to not consolidated company and capital gain, basically associated to the sales of Huasco thermal power plants. All the above effects were partially offset by lower income related to monetary adjustment, higher financial costs associated to payment schedule optimization agreement with suppliers, and higher financial expense linked to the sales of part of Enel X e-buses business. Income tax increased by $138 million, mainly related to the income tax associated to the sales of Arcadia of $148 million.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, net income increased 44% to $426 million, primarily explained by: higher EBITDA, as detailed in the previous slide; higher depreciation and amortization for $10 million is mainly explained by the generation business due to new renewable energy project in operation; higher financial results and equity investment of $13 million. This is explained by: $84 million related to the previously mentioned PEC 2 adjustment, partially offset by higher financial expense linked to the sales of Enel X e-buses business; higher financial costs related to the payment schedule optimization agreement with suppliers; higher financial costs mainly related to the higher cost of debt. Basically, slight variation on the quarter in terms of income tax. Moving to the FFO analysis on the next slide, let's review in detail our FFO for this period.
Regarding the FFO, the figures for 2023 and 2022 have been adjusted only by the sales of Enel Transmission, but not by the Shell agreement executed in 2022. Last year, in terms of cash, the adjustment amounted to $20 million in the full year. In 2023, we have excluded $310 million paid in taxes on capital gains obtained from this transaction. Our FFO in 2023 reached $986 million, representing an improvement of $334 million. The main effects that explain our FFO in this period are the following: $1.3 billion coming from EBITDA driven by the strong hydrology contribution, gas trading activity, and better results in the distribution business. $406 million negative impact from the cumulative stabilization mechanism effect in our receivable, reducing the cash conversion of the period.
This situation has been improved by the impact of the execution of the IDB factoring related to PEC 2, which amounted to $345 million. Working capital reached a positive balance of $88 million as a consequence of cash generation from the sales of Santa Rosa Building and cash management optimization, partially offset by VAT payment related to stabilization mechanism accounts. Working capital improvement, once compared to last year's figures, mainly comes from the sales of Santa Rosa Building and other managerial actions, as well as better collection on distribution business. $34 million income tax net payment, mainly related to tax payment in generation business in 2023, offset by tax recovery from previous periods for both generation and distribution business contributions. Once compared to the income tax paid in 2023 versus last year, the main difference comes from the tax recovery from previous period obtained during this year.
To conclude, regarding financial expense, we paid $299 million. This is explained mainly due to the debt interest related to the average interest on the gross debt of 4.9% that reflects also the new interest curve associated with the revolving credit facility. Once we compare the 2023 financial expenses with last year's figures, we see an increase also explained by higher average interest rate on the gross debt and monthly payment related to the revolving credit facility as a bridge instrument for the PEC 2 delay. Now, let's look at our liquidity and leverage position. Our gross debt decreased around $0.3 billion to $4.4 billion as of December 2023, compared to December 2022. This decrease was primarily due to the repayment of revolving credit lines, partially thanks to the use of the proceeds from Arcadia sales concluded last October 2023.
The average of our debt maturity increased to 6.1 years as of December 2023, also improving the portion of the fixed rate to 88% of a total debt from 77% in September 2023. The average cost of our debt reached 4.9% as of December 2023, mostly owing to the new profile of our debt, the financial market condition, and the repayment of some bridge short-term instruments. In terms of liquidity, we have a comfortable position in order to support upcoming debt maturity in 2024 and also to cope with possible headwinds in the debt market related to the economic situation. Talking about 2024, we have approximately $750 million maturing in 2024, including $400 million of the Yankee bonds. In line with our financing strategy and according to our 2024 financial plan, we are evaluating the best alternatives to face this maturity.
This could be done through the payment with cash, the use of long-term committed credit lines executing a new financing at Enel Chile level, or a mix between the alternatives. Currently, we are in advanced conversation with several banks and financial institutions, which have shown great interest in participating in possible new financing. In the first quarter, we'll give you more color on it. Now, I will hand over to Fabrizio for closing remarks.
Thanks, Giuseppe. Enel Chile's sustainable business model demonstrated its resiliency and optionality, and these outstanding operating and financial results gave the management room to pursue the company's strategy toward decarbonization, electrification, and profitability. As planned, the Arcadia transaction was concluded last October. With this, our asset rotation plan was successfully concluded. The 2023 results showed a solid operating performance. The better-than-expected hydrology and the gas trading activities during this year, complemented by the several managerial actions we have taken over the last year, supported us in achieving our commitment to all our shareholders. Finally, we would like to announce that the 2024 annual general meeting will be held on April 29th, during which our shareholders will deliberate on the final dividend for the 2023 fiscal year. Let me now hand it over to Isabela.
Thank you, Fabrizio, and thank you all for your attention. So now let's begin the Q&A session. We will receive questions via phone and chat in the webcast. The Q&A section is open. Operator, please, you may start.
Thank you so much. As a reminder to our audience, please press star one one to get in the queue and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, press star one one again. One moment. Our first question comes from the line of Javier Suarez with Mediobanca. Please proceed.
Hi. Good afternoon, and thank you for the presentation. Several questions on the regulatory side. On slide 6, you detail several significant improvements in the outlook for regulation when it comes to the stabilization mechanism and also the regulation for distribution. So the question for you is if you can, again, clarify the amount of receivable that you have on your balance sheet related to the stabilization mechanism and your latest expectations on the timeframe for the recovery of this amount and how this new guidance may impact your guidance as presented in the recent business plan of November 2023? And a similar question for the distribution regulatory cycle. You are expecting the publication of the decree during the second half 2024. Can you share with us your latest expectations on this regulatory review and how this compares with the assumptions embedded in your business plan?
Then the third question is related to the hydro production and reservoir levels. You can kindly elaborate on how these higher reservoirs that you have for 2024 compare with your assumption in the business plan for 2024 and what we may expect in terms of additional contributions of this additional hydro capacity, I guess. And the final question is, this year, we have seen a significant contribution as well from gas trading optimization opportunities. You can share with us the expectation for 2024. Many thanks.
Okay. Thank you very much. Well, several questions. So let me try to answer starting from the last one, and I will probably change the order in my answer. So gas trading is pretty simple. In the end, we usually have, let me say, between $30 million and $40 million margin in a normal year. And 2024 will be a normal year. So this is the range in which you have to consider our gas trading margin activities for 2024, as we usually experienced also in the past. We have some, let me say, growth in this, but it's, as I said, some $ million. We are talking about debt. The order of magnitude changed drastically in the last two years because of the very particular condition we experienced in the international LNG market in 2022.
That was the moment in which we materialized all our sales that we benefited from in 2022 and 2023 performance. So basically, this is the standard, let me say, expectation for natural gas trading activities is between $30 million and $40 million. Then hydro production, as I said, we have some higher-than-expected levels in our reservoirs. And of course, it would help us to probably perform better than expectation in our first quarter. It is difficult to project this in terms of yearly production because starting from the 1st of April, the smelting period would end, and new rainfalls would affect the overall production of the year. So what can I say?
It is that we are pretty confident that first quarter results will be boosted by this additional hydro production and additional water in our reservoirs that we have been experiencing in this first part of the year. Distribution regulators. Yes. Well, as I mentioned, that this is a positive piece of news. Of course, we still have to wait for the final decree and all the review process from Contraloría, but we are quite optimistic that this will be the final numbers for VAD, for our distribution activity. There are some upside compared to what we registered in the last three years because I remember that in the last three years, we had to, of course, make our P&L assumptions about the 2020-2024 distribution tariffs.
So we have some upside there, and we have probably also some upside compared to what we now can expect for 2024, in the range of $20 million more. This is more or less what we can expect as an upside in our distribution business as a consequence of this final report from the regulators. And then your first question about PEC, I will give you a very general answer, and then I will let Giuseppe add some more color on that. As I mentioned during my speech, the amount of receivables net of what we already factored is $759 million. This is the figures we have in our account for this item.
Of course, once the draft bill will be hopefully approved, there will be a path to recover all these accounts receivable that we already registered and, of course, also the evolution of what it is going to accumulate in the next month. So it's quite a little bit complex between what we are going to anyway have as any repayment and what it is going to accumulate more. And so I will leave Giuseppe to add some more color on that.
Yeah. Thank you, Fabrizio. Basically, we believe that if the law is going to be approved in end of March, beginning of April, we are soon to recover $450 million approximately. It's the amount that we expect to be collected and factorized in 2024, and this is what we put in our projection for the year.
Okay. Thank you, Giuseppe. Thank you, Fabrizio. I think we have reached all the questions from Javier. So now, do we have any other questions coming from the line operator?
No, we don't have anymore. I can hand it back to you to mention any questions we have on the chat.
Definitely. We have received some questions here from the audience coming from the chat. So I will start with the first question here that I will receive from Felipe Torres from AFP Habitat. Felipe Torres asking us about, "Can you give us more detail regarding the extraordinary shareholders' meeting to be held after the ordinary shareholders' meeting in April 29th?" So Felipe, I will answer this one here. So soon, all the topics of our shareholders' meeting will be available in our website, okay? And then once it's available, we will be here, the investor relations team, available for your questions and under all the requirements you may have, okay? So coming from the second question now from Martin Arancet from Balanz Capital. Martin is asking about the PEC, Fabrizio and Giuseppe. "Will the IDB offer to monetize the PEC 3 receivables as they did with PEC 2?
Do you expect any financial costs from generators?" Giuseppe?
Yeah. Well, consider that the new system foresees full PEC 2 costs for what concerns the generation every time that they are going to do the factoring, except for the legal cost associated to the deal. And IDB has already got the mandate from the government in order to arrange the new factoring. So we believe that the situation is going to be smoother than the previous one. So we don't expect significant costs associated to the factoring.
Okay. Thank you, Giuseppe. So now let's go to another question coming from Francisco Paz from Santander. The first question of Francisco is, "What level of gas commercialization do you expect for this year?" I think we have already answered, not this one. And the second one, "What level of hydro generation are you forecasting for this year in the context of El Niño, La Niña phenomena, if you see any kind of a change in the forecast because of these events that we might have this year?" Thank you, Fabrizio.
Yeah. Let me give a very general answer to that. We already experienced in the past that having El Niño phenomenon or La Niña phenomenon doesn't imply as a direct consequence a drastic change in hydrology in Chile. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes no. So hydrological conditions in Chile are not, as in other countries, a natural consequence of this phenomenon. So, of course, we monitor this phenomenon, and we also adjust when we have some strong evidence of this phenomenon affecting our hydrological conditions. But so far, we don't see any particular, let me say, impact on what we could expect on 2024. So we have elaborated our budget, and we are still projecting an overall hydrology and overall hydroelectric production for the year in line with the last five years' average, meaning 9.6 TWh.
This is the reason why we have not changed, at least so far, our assumptions about hydro production for this year.
Okay. Thank you, Fabrizio. We have one more question coming from Florencia Mayorga from MetLife. So the question is from Florencia. First, she's giving us the congrats from the results. And then, "How much of PEC 2 receivables are you expected to monetize in 2024? What's your plans for the 2024 notes due in April?" Florencia is asking about the Yankee Bond, okay? Thank you, Giuseppe.
Yeah. I mean, for what concerns the factoring of PEC 2 in 2024, basically, I've already answered. So we are talking about around $450 million in the second half of this year. Concerning the maturing of Yankee Bond that is going to be repaid in the second quarter of 2024, as I said in my speech, we are basically exploring all alternatives that we have in our hands. So we are going to use cash that is available but also the committed lines that we have outstanding and not to use. And we are exploring also the possibility to issue a new loan. Now, we are, as I said already, in an advanced stage of negotiation with some banks and institutions. And we are deciding this month. We are going to decide during March, basically, which kind of alternatives it looks like benefits for our company.
Again, the first quarter results, we are going to give you more color on that.
Okay. Thank you, Giuseppe. Now, questions coming from Rodrigo Mora from Moneda. Rodrigo asked about Los Cóndores. So the first question, Rodrigo, is coming about if we have some news on the project, Los Cóndores, and also how much resources we will need to end the construction during this year of 2024. This is the first question. And then the second question that Rodrigo is asking is about the agreements with the Argentinian gas producers. So he's asking more details about what we have already signed with the Argentinian gas producers for 2024. Thank you, Rodrigo, for the question, Fabrizio.
Okay. Well, look, regarding Los Cóndores, we are finally at the final stage of this very particular project, very challenging project. And let me comment, first of all, that all the main civil works that were related to all excavation in the mountains, so the problems that we experienced with this project, are concluded. So this is something that, of course, is really important for us to announce that the main work that were, let me say, a little bit more risky from a geological point of view are finalized. They were finalized at the end of December. So about the time we could expect Los Cóndores online, it would be in the second semester. This is some months a little bit more of what we projected previously.
Is this related to the big rainfall that we had last year that, of course, on the one hand, were really positive to our performances in 2023 but, unfortunately, on the other hand, make us impossible in some months to continue working on Los Cóndores project? So we have some months delay due to this unexpected stop that is related to the heavy rainfall that we experienced last year. In relation with how much investment we need to finalize the project, well, I would say relatively small amount because we are talking about $60 million. This is our projection for 2024 CapEx need to conclude the Los Cóndores project. So, as I said, finally, we are expecting this important project to be online this year. And we are also pretty optimistic since the main critical works were already finalized. Second question being about the Argentinian gas.
Yes.
Well, I can repeat the numbers I gave you during the speech. But let me first make a general comment. We have been committing to sign several agreements with Argentinian suppliers because we want to be, let me say, sure about gas availability because the risk profile is really asymmetric in case hydrological conditions could change versus the ones that we projected in our budget. So, of course, we wanted to be sure and to secure enough gas availability in order to be ready to face adverse hydrological conditions in case more gas production would be needed from our plants and also from competitors' power plants. So the figures I was referring to, it is 4.1 cubic meters per day in the current period, so starting from October 2023 to April 2024.
Then in the winter period, we secured 2.6 million cubic meters per day, of course. Sorry. And 2.6 million cubic meters per day. And then in the following period, October 2024 to December 2024, 3.5 million cubic meters per day.
Okay. Fabrizio, now we have a last question coming from David Parra from Itaú. David is asking about the transmission cost that we had during 2023, no? So he's asking, "I would like to ask about the transmission cost. In fourth quarter, we can see a lower cost in comparison to the other quarter of this year. What explains this difference? Can we expect the same level going forth?
Well, in the fourth quarter, the cost of transmission has been assessed by the recovery of the decoupling costs for the transmission tolls. So basically, it's the net cost that we register in the fourth quarter. It's difficult to predict whether we are going to have, again, this kind of recovery. So it's the kind of stuff that requires more analysis once we have the closing of the book. So right now, I cannot say that we are going to repeat this recovery.
Okay. Thank you, Giuseppe. Then we have a last question coming from Fernando Gonzalez from BTG. So Fernando Gonzalez is asking about the reservoirs, no? So the question is, "Given the current levels at reservoirs and assuming dry conditions, do you see that it could support hydro generation beyond the first quarter and into the second quarter as well?" So the question is about reservoirs throughout the next months.
Well, of course, this is a very challenging question because it would depend, of course, also on the level that we are going to experience in the next weeks about inflows generated by the last part of the snowmelt season. Of course, the inflows are decreasing, as expected, of course, as always during the snowmelt season. But it is true that this year, we are experiencing a smoother snowmelt season when compared to last year. So that is the reason why we have been accumulating more water in our reservoirs, and we are generating more hydro production compared to our budget expectations. Now, commenting if it's possible to predict if it would be also of some comfort in April or during the second quarter, it's difficult to say. It would depend also on the level of inflows that would materialize in the next week.
Anyway, as I said, of course, it's a very good piece of news for Q1. It's difficult to comment about Q2.
Okay. Thank you, Fabrizio. As there are no more questions, I will hand over to you, Fabrizio, for your final words. Thank you.
Thank you, Isabela. Well, as you might know, today is my last day as CEO of Enel Chile. Tomorrow, I will assume another position within the Enel Group back to Italy. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the colleagues in Enel Chile and the managing team who worked together with me for all the support during this year during which we worked together to unlock the value of this asset and to reshape the financial sustainability of Enel Chile, being able to deliver all the commitments agreed to with our shareholders. Also, I would like to sincerely thank all of you for all the engaging interactions we had during our calls and meetings. It has provided me with considerable professional growth. So thank you very much again and all the best.
Thank you, Fabrizio. Thank you all. So with this, we conclude our conference call. The investor relations team is available for any doubt you may have. Many thanks for your attention, and see you soon in our annual shareholders' meeting in the end of April. Thank you. Bye-bye.
Thank you, everybody, for your participation. You may now disconnect.