Latin America needs US$ 1.9 trillion to triple electricity generation by 2050

Latin America requires 1.9 trillion dollars to triple its capacity electricity generationmainly with wind power and solar, to meet net zero emissions goals for 2050.

This was estimated by the Latin American Energy Organization (Olade) in its Energy Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2023, presented with energy projections for the middle of the 21st century and the “decarbonization” of its matrix.

This process has been called “electrification of energy matter”so that the electricity go from having a participation of 19% to 36% within the region’s energy matrix, by multiplying the electrical generation capacity by three and going from 500 to 1,500 installed gigawatts.

In this course, the participation of the wind and solar energy in electricity generation should increase from the current 14% to 50%, while hydroelectric energy, which is currently the first source of generation in the region, would go from 42% to 26%, and green hydrogen, which is now practically zero , it would go to 2%.

”This need for investment that the region has to meet its objectives must take a lot of attention from those in charge of public policy, regulations and regulation,” warned the director of Studies, Projects and Information, Medardo Cadena.

”Because attracting investment, fundamentally private, to the volumes we are talking about, requires extremely clear rules that provide sufficient tranquility so that capital can be brought to the region,” he added.

Two opposite paths

Cadena noted that if Latin America and the Caribbean maintains the same trend its emissions greenhouse gases will increase by 54%, while if you make these investments and promote energy efficiency you would reduce them by 47% by 2050.

In that sense, he reiterated that the green hydrogen It will become “a very important energy vector for the region,” after fourteen of the twenty-seven countries that make up Olade signed an agreement last year to create an international certification.

“He green hydrogen It will reach 2050 with a production of 188 million tons of oil equivalent, which would be used mainly in transportation (33%), export to other countries, electricity generation and industrial use,” he explained.

”To produce that volume of green hydrogen, we need significant generation capacity that is approximately equivalent to the currently installed capacity in the entire region,” he added.

Wind and solar advance in Latin America

For his part, the executive director of Olade, the Chilean Andrés Rebolledo, highlighted that in recent years the participation of the wind and solar energy has doubled in the last five years in Latin America and the Caribbean to reach 13%.

“It is the greenest region in the world,” mentioned Rebolledo, recalling that Latin America stands out for having 31% renewable sources in its energy matrix, above the 14% world average.

The former Minister of Energy of Chili He noted that in 2022 the energy supply increased by 3% compared to the previous year with 6,697 million barrels of oil equivalent, while consumption increased by 7.3% in the same period.

In electricity generationrenewable energies grew by 13%, and 95% of the new installed capacity was renewable, for a total of 20 gigawatts.

However, Rebolledo recalled that there are warnings about the energy efficiencywhere the region has regressed after the pandemic, and on the coverage of the electricity supply, which covers 97.54% of the population, but there are still 16.2 million people who do not have access to electricity.