Latin America has a bright future in renewable energy

The impact of the decline in international oil prices on oil and gas producing countries is self-evident. As a result, the development of the renewable energy industry has also been under pressure. However, in Latin America, where many countries have oil and gas resources, the situation is exactly the opposite. In many countries, the renewable energy industry has not been dragged down by low oil prices. Instead, it has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results.

Small countries lead clean power use

At the Paris climate conference just held at the end of last year, Latin American Uruguay promised to reduce carbon emissions by 88% between 2009 and 2013 by 2017. As a "small country" with an area of ​​less than 200,000 square kilometers, why does Uruguay have such ambition to reduce emissions? The answer lies in its successful transition to renewable energy.

In less than 10 years, Uruguay will no longer use coal-fired power or nuclear power. Today's power supply has almost completely depended on renewable energy, and as much as 94.5% of its electricity comes from wind, hydro, solar and biomass. Material energy. At the same time, Uruguay's power grid is also very stable, and it rarely encounters large-scale power outages. What is even more enviable is that Uruguay’s current cost of electricity generation has not risen, but has fallen by about 30%, and electricity prices are much lower than before using traditional fossil fuels to generate electricity.

The oil price net writes that the process of Uruguay's comprehensive use of renewable energy power has a good reference. The country did not spend large public expenditures on the construction of large-scale dams, but provided more realistic business conditions for related industries, such as stable investment in climate change solutions, clear regulatory policies, and decisive and powerful public utilities. Decision-making, as well as close cooperation between the state-owned and private sectors.

The data shows that Uruguay's energy industry has now attracted 7 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about 15% of its total GDP, and most of the funds have flowed into the renewable energy sector.

Coincidentally, Costa Rica, another small country in Latin America, has also taken the lead in the use of clean electricity. In 2015, Costa Rica achieved nearly 99% of its electricity from renewable energy sources. Among them, the main part is hydroelectric power, and there is also part of geothermal energy and wind power. Relying on these, Costa Rica achieved a total renewable energy use for 94 consecutive days in 2015.

In addition to the above-mentioned small countries that occupy “time and place”, other countries in the Latin American region are also keen to develop the renewable energy industry.

According to relevant reports, in Chile, approximately 1 GW of new solar power capacity was installed in 2015, and an additional 8 GW of new solar power capacity has been approved and preparations are beginning to be made. In addition, due to the sharp drop in the cost of solar power generation, even companies that developed mines in northern Chile have begun to use solar power to help reduce the use of diesel.

The consulting firm Ernst & Young expects that by 2022 alone mining companies in Latin America will invest $1 billion in renewable energy.

In addition, Brazil, Mexico and other countries have also increased the development of renewable energy. The research report released by the Inter-American Development Bank pointed out that only one Brazilian country has attracted 96.3 billion U.S. dollars in renewable energy investment between 2006 and 2013. At present, the installed capacity of renewable energy power generation has accounted for 15% of the total installed capacity in Brazil. At the same time, Mexico also attracted about 11.3 billion U.S. dollars in investment, and the installed capacity of renewable energy power generation accounted for 5% of the total installed capacity of electricity.

Brazil, Mexico, Panama, and Uruguay are leading countries in wind energy investment in Latin America and the Caribbean. The total investment in the solar energy field in Latin America is also a record high, and many countries including Honduras and Chile have built solar power plant projects.

Industrial policies help advance the future

In order to successfully achieve energy transformation in Latin America, Latin America has also proposed industrial guidance policies that are specific to its own characteristics and provide support for the further development of renewable energy.

It is understood that most Latin American countries have medium-term or long-term goals for the development of renewable energy. According to IPS, Argentina plans to achieve 8% of total renewable energy demand in 2016; Chile plans to achieve 20% of renewable electricity by 2025; and Mexico, hoping to achieve 23 in 2018 % of energy consumption comes from clean energy sources. By 2024, this proportion will be increased to 25% and in 2027 it will be further increased to 26%.

Hugo Ventura, head of the energy and natural resources department of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, pointed out: "The eyes of investors in Latin America's energy sector have started to go further and the industry's goal setting is also moving in the long term. ”

Industry organizations are also optimistic about the prospects for the development of the renewable energy industry in Latin America. In its annual report, the World Wind Energy Association used “very bright light” to describe the future development of wind power in Latin America and claimed that “investment in wind power in Latin America is still advancing at a tremendous pace”.