Hydroelectric power still is the main renewable energy source in Latin America and the Caribbean.”]Washington, D.C., U.S.A. – Latin America and the Caribbean are the world’s cleanest regions when it comes to energy sources.
Renewable sources meet 30% of the demand for primary energy – transport, industry and commerce – in the region, well above the worldwide average of 13%, says Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho, a senior energy specialist at the Energy Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
But hydroelectric power still is the main renewable energy source in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Hydroelectric power stations use a well-known technology, with a lower cost than other alternatives, but they damage the environment, Vieira de Carvalho says.
Specialists recommend that new power plants should have much smaller reservoirs than those designed in the past in order to reduce the impact they have on the environment.
Giant hydroelectric plants – like those located in the Amazon region – supply energy for the long term, but they also occupy large areas and represent a greater risk of flooding in the case of spills, Vieira de Carvalho adds.
With the increasing demand for energy driven by economic growth and the increase of per capita consumption in the region, specialists recommend governments invest in other sources that produce clean energy.
The demand for energy rose in all Latin American and Caribbean countries during the past decade. On average, the region showed a 4.5% increase, according to the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE).
“The demand for energy will always grow, even if the economy faces difficulties,” Vieira de Carvalho says. “The question is how to meet this demand.”
[captionpix imgsrc=”https://thecostaricanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/energy1.jpg” align=”right” captiontext=”Brazil, Costa Rica and Colombia lead the use of renewable energy sources in the region, mostly by using hydroelectric plants and biofuels.”]The IDB takes part in dozens of actions to promote the implementation of renewable energy sources throughout the region. And the nations have shown increasing interest in projects across the area, mostly in the past five years, as a result of increased oil prices.
“Although they are higher-risk investments due to the cost of their implementation, renewable energy projects offer a kind of insurance against rising oil prices in the future,” Vieira de Carvalho says.
The cost of solar, wind and hydroelectric energy generation can be foreseen with greater certainty since those sources don’t rely on the purchasing of fuel.
The IDB recently approved two grants – a total of US$700,000 – to fund the construction of a solar energy plant in the municipality of Tauá, in Brazil’s northeastern state of Ceará. The plant will be run by MPX Energia S.A., a Brazilian energy company.
It will be the first large-scale project to generate solar energy by using photovoltaic panels connected to the national interconnected system.
In the first stage, the plant will provide electricity to nearly 1,500 households in Tauá.
The photovoltaic system is the most advantageous option in terms of energy distribution in the region, which is a typically sunny area, Vieira de Carvalho says.
“The distribution of the solar potential is much more democratic than the wind and hydroelectric systems, since the two last are extremely dependent on the site where they are expected to be installed,” he says.
But sunshine, overall, is abundant throughout Latin America, Vieira de Carvalho says.
The Northeast of Brazil and the Chilean arid zones are the most favorable areas for a solar plant to remain operational for the long term, so they offer a better return on investments since the areas receive levels of direct solar radiation from the sun.
The costs of implementing photovoltaic systems, as well as wind systems, are higher than other alternatives like biomass and hydroelectric power plants. But specialists expect the technologies used for these systems will become more accessible, making the field more competitive.
Brazil, Costa Rica and Colombia lead the use of renewable energy sources in the region, mostly by using hydroelectric plants and biofuels.
Nicaragua, confident that oil prices would continue to show a downward trend, relies heavily on using fossil fuels to create energy.
The result?
Nicaragua has the lowest use of renewable sources as a way to supply the demand for energy.
But that dependence is expected to change.
Nicaragua will invest US$380 million to diversify its energy sources and improve access to electrical energy for its citizens. Of this total, which will come from international development banks, an estimated US$80 million will be granted by the IDB.
Today, only 63% of the Nicaraguans have access to electricity. With the new investments, the goal is to reach 85% over the next 10 years, the IDB says.
By Ligia Hougland for Infosurhoy.com
