In recent years, many Latin American countries have continued to introduce policies and strengthen investment to support the development of renewable energy such as solar energy and wind energy, and have played their respective advantages and potential to actively develop clean energy technologies such as bioenergy and low-carbon hydrogen, and the pace of energy transformation has continued to accelerate.
Promoting the diversified development of clean energy
The first Latin American Energy Outlook report released by the International Energy Agency at the end of last year showed that fossil energy currently accounts for about 2/3 of the energy structure in Latin America, which is lower than the global average of 80%; in the field of power generation, renewable energy power generation accounts for 60% of the total power generation in the region, about twice the global average, and hydropower alone accounts for 45% of the region's total power supply; in the field of transportation, the proportion of biofuels in the region is twice the global average. The report believes that Latin America will play an important role in the global energy transformation.
Brazil is actively accelerating the development of clean energy. According to data released by the Brazilian Power Exchange Center a few days ago, the proportion of renewable energy power generation in Brazil will reach a new high in 2023, with 93.1% of electricity coming from renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass, of which hydropower accounts for about 60% of the total power generation. The proportion of solar and wind power in total power generation is also increasing. According to data released by the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency at the beginning of this year, Brazil's new installed power generation capacity in 2023 exceeded 10.3 GW, of which wind power and solar energy accounted for 47.65% and 39.51% of the new installed capacity respectively. Roberto Muñiz, director of institutional relations at the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry, pointed out that renewable energy accounts for a high proportion in Brazil's energy matrix, and the Brazilian government is constantly promoting the expansion of renewable energy use.
According to data from the Chilean Electricity Company Association, 63% of Chile's electricity generation in 2023 came from renewable energy, up 7 percentage points from 2022, reaching an all-time high. Among them, hydropower accounted for 29% of the total power generation, solar power accounted for nearly 20% of the total power generation, and coal-fired power generation accounted for 17% from 24% in 2022. According to Chile's "Three O'Clock News", since the beginning of this year, the Chilean Environmental Assessment Bureau has received environmental assessment applications for more than 20 photovoltaic power generation projects, with a total investment of US$2.023 billion, including four large photovoltaic projects with an investment of more than US$200 million. The Chilean government said that Chile has the conditions to achieve diversified, sustainable and innovative development, and will promote the development of the lithium industry and green hydrogen energy industry.
In Colombia, hydropower accounts for about 70% of total power generation. In recent years, Colombia has actively promoted the diversified development of renewable energy. The "Renewable Energy 2024" report recently released by the Colombian Renewable Energy Association shows that in 2023, a total of 25 solar power generation projects will be put into operation in the country, with a total installed capacity of 208 megawatts, a year-on-year increase of 70%. It is expected that the installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation to be put into operation in 2024 will reach 1.24 gigawatts, and the total installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation projects in the planning stage will be 1.8 gigawatts.
Countries increase policy support
Latin America has abundant reserves of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind energy, and hydropower. Many countries regard the vigorous development of renewable energy as an important means to drive the economy. The "Global Renewable Energy Outlook" report predicts that by 2050, Latin America's renewable energy investment demand will be about US$45 billion per year, and every US$1 invested can bring an economic return of US$3 to US$8; by 2050, investment in renewable energy is expected to boost Latin America's GDP by 2.4%.
According to the report "Energy Transition Investment Trends 2024" released by Bloomberg, Brazil attracted more than $25 billion in investment in renewable energy in 2023, ranking third in the world. Last year, Luciana Santos, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil, said that Brazil will increase its support for the development of renewable energy power generation, low-carbon hydrogen, etc., and will invest 21 billion reais (1 reais is about 1.36 yuan) to promote energy transformation and infrastructure construction in related fields. Brazil attaches particular importance to the development of low-carbon hydrogen industry. Last year, it formulated the "National Hydrogen Energy Plan (2023-2025)" and is committed to promoting low-carbon hydrogen pilot plants. The goal is to make Brazil a competitive low-carbon hydrogen producer by 2030, and gradually use low-carbon hydrogen to replace traditional energy in metallurgy, petrochemicals and other fields.
In recent years, Colombia has proposed a "Just Energy Transition" plan and established a standing committee for just energy transition, focusing on five major areas: increasing investment in clean energy and decarbonization, gradually replacing fossil fuels, improving energy efficiency, relaxing regulations to accelerate clean energy production, and promoting economic re-industrialization. Last year, the country also issued policies to encourage indigenous residents and rural communities to cooperate with enterprises to carry out small-scale renewable energy power generation and commercialization projects. In addition to meeting the power supply needs of the community, they can also sell electricity to the national grid.
Peru attaches importance to investing in wind and solar energy projects. The "Zero Emission Energy Transformation Roadmap 2030-2050" promoted by the Peruvian National Electricity Company aims to make renewable energy power generation account for 81% of the country's total power generation by 2030. The main contents include promoting renewable energy power generation, promoting the development of electric vehicles and strengthening research on new energy technologies. Peru's "Business Daily" predicts that Peru's solar and wind power installed capacity will double in 2024, and its share in the national energy structure will increase from 5% to 10%.
China-Latin America energy cooperation is deepening
Chinese companies are one of the main investors in renewable energy in Latin America. According to a research report released by the Brazilian Institute of Applied Economics last year, from 2019 to 2022, the installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation invested by Chinese companies in Latin America has quadrupled, from 363 MW to 1.4 GW; the power generation capacity of wind farms invested by Chinese companies has doubled, from 1.6 GW to 3.2 GW.
Recently, State Grid Brazil Holding Company and the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency signed a franchise agreement for the "Brazil Northeast UHV Project". The project will package and transport clean energy such as wind power, solar energy and hydropower in northeastern and northern Brazil, which can meet the electricity needs of about 12 million people in regions such as the Federal District of Brazil. Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy Silveira said that the project will play an important role in improving the safe and stable operation level of Brazil's power grid, and will strongly support the green and low-carbon development of Brazil's economy and society.
In recent years, Chile has vigorously promoted energy transformation, proposing to close all coal-fired power plants by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In order to achieve the goal of "decarbonization", various parts of Chile have carried out upgrades and renovations of power grids and substations. China State Grid Chekunta Group has participated in the transformation of multiple projects, bringing clean and reliable electricity supply to local people. Diego Pardo, Minister of Energy of Chile, said that Chile has abundant reserves of renewable energy and is willing to further strengthen cooperation with China in renewable energy.
In Colombia, Chinese companies actively participate in the construction of local clean energy projects. In May 2023, the first phase of the Baranoa Solar Power Plant invested by China Three Gorges Corporation started construction. Roberto Celedon, Mayor of Baranoa, said that the local solar energy resources are rich, and the technology and investment from China will make the city an ideal place for the effective use of solar energy. In September 2023, PowerChina and Celsia of Colombia signed the Escobar Photovoltaic Project Engineering General Contracting Contract. Ricardo Cela, President of Celsia, said that the project will further help Colombia's energy transformation.
Andres Rebolledo, Secretary General of the Latin American Energy Organization, said that China is an important partner in renewable energy investment and technological cooperation in Latin America. In recent years, the two sides have also carried out extensive cooperation in the field of electric vehicles. "The cooperation potential between Latin American countries and China in the energy field is huge and the prospects are broad."