Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Energía para el Futuro

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Energy Access
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Energy Integration
    • Gender and Energy
    • Renewable Energy
  • authors
  • English
    • Spanish

Latin America and the Caribbean Leading the Way in Renewable Energy

July 7, 2016 por Ariel Yepez - Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho - Christine Lins Leave a Comment


 

Renewables

*The 2016 key findings report is available in Portuguese here.

The REN21 Renewables 2016 Global Status Report indicates that countries across Latin America and the Caribbean continue to have some of the world’s highest targeted shares for renewable energy deployment. The Renewables 2016 Global Status Report is the world’s most frequently referenced annual report on the global renewable energy market, and the industry and policy landscape. It has been published since 2005 by the REN21 Secretariat, relying on a multi-stakeholder network of 700 renewable energy, energy access and energy efficiency experts that collectively share its insight and knowledge. The REN21 reports can be downloaded here. A Spanish version of the 2016 key findings can be found here.

Latin America and the Caribbean remain at the forefront of the use of competitive bidding for renewable energy project allocations, with many tenders attracting record-setting participation. Several countries – including Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru – held successful tenders in 2015 and early 2016, resulting in some of the world’s lowest bid prices, due in part to the region’s vast renewable energy resources.

Brazil was third in the world in total electricity generation with renewable energy in 2015, after China and the USA, while Costa Rica generated 99% of its electricity with renewable sources, and Uruguay generated 92.8%, out of which 15.5% was from wind alone.

Brazil was second globally in installing new hydropower capacity in 2015 (after China, which has been responsible for installing half of world’s new hydro capacity annually) and fourth in installing new wind power capacity.

Nine countries in Latin America added nearly 4.4 GW of wind power capacity to reach about 15.3 GW.  Brazil (2.8 GW) was responsible for about 57% of the region’s market, and ended the year with 8.7 GW. Brazil was followed by Mexico (adding 0.7 GW to pass 3 GW), Uruguay (adding 0.3 GW), and Panama (adding 0.2 GW).

Mexico was in third place in the world in terms of adding geothermal power capacity in 2015 (representing 17% of all added geothermal capacity, just after Turkey and the USA) and fourth in accumulated installed geothermal power capacity.

Brazil was third in installations of solar water heating collectors in 2015 and fifth in cumulative installations of such solar collectors. Barbados was fourth in solar water heating collector capacity per capita.

Brazil, the world’s second largest biofuel producer, increased both ethanol and biodiesel production during 2015, due to good sugarcane harvests and blending mandates. Brazil is fourth in the world in biopower generation. Argentina ranked fourth in the world in biodiesel production.

Biomass-based heat accounts for almost a third of industrial heat production in Latin America. Honduras, Uruguay, and Jamaica ranked respectively second, third, and fifth in the world in investment in renewable power and biofuels per unit of GDP.

As far as jobs in the renewable energy sector are concerned, Brazil is among the leading employers for all technologies. Most employment in renewables is in bioenergy and large-scale hydropower, however in the wind sector jobs are increasing due to rising deployment and local manufacturing. Elsewhere in Latin America, jobs also are increasing in the wind and solar sectors.

The renewable energy development seen to date is just a starting point for Latin America. Argentina, for example, has just announced auctioning of 1 GW of electric capacity from renewables. The renewable energy potential in Latin America is huge, and many countries embark on an energy transition with renewables and energy efficiency.

REN21 is proud to work closely with the SE4All initiative to achieve the three SE4All objectives by 2030: (i) to ensure universal access to modern energy services; (ii) to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency (EE); and, (iii) to double the share of renewable energy (RE) in the global energy mix.

The IDB collaborates with REN21 every year and acts as the SE4All hub for Latin America and the Caribbean, helping the region reach these three objectives in collaboration with other key regional organizations such as the UNDP, ECLAC and OLADE.

 

 

 

 


Filed Under: Español, Uncategorized Tagged With: energia renovable, renovables

Ariel Yepez

Ariel Yépez es Asesor Economista Principal en la Vicepresidencia de Sectores y Conocimiento en el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID). Previamente se desempeñó como Gerente del Sector de Infraestructura y Energía y como jefe de División de Energía en el BID. Antes de su incorporación al BID, se desempeñó como economista senior de Energía en el Banco Mundial y como Director de Planeación Económica en Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). Asimismo, ocupó distintos puestos en la Secretaría de Hacienda en México, incluido el de Director General de Políticas de Ingresos, Derechos, Precios y Tarifas. Ariel también ha impartido cátedra en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y en el Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. También ha publicado artículos y libros en temas de infraestructura y energía, regulación, finanzas públicas y organización industrial. Su más reciente libro ¿Cómo consumen energía los hogares? Evidencia en América Latina y el Caribe, ha sido publicado en inglés, español y portugués. Tiene un doctorado en economía por la Universidad de Chicago y una maestría en Economía por el Colegio de México. Ariel también recibió el Premio Nacional de Economía del Banco Nacional de México.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Energy

A blog about the impact of renewables, technology and innovation in the energy industry.

Recent Posts

  • The Challenge of Renewable Energy Curtailment
  • Exploring Dual-Use PV: Unlocking Renewable Energy’s Hidden Potential
  • Energy development lights up the Honduran Moskitia
  • Five Takeaways from Advancing Inclusive Energy Transition in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024
  • The Importance of Resilient Infrastructure in Addressing Climate Change

Categories

  • covid-19
  • Digitalization
  • Electromobility
  • Energy Access
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Integration
  • Energy transition
  • English
  • English
  • Español
  • Gender and Energy
  • Green hyrdrogen
  • Infraestructura sostenible
  • Minerals
  • Renewable Energy
  • Sin categorizar
  • Uncategorized

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

    Blog posts written by Bank employees:

    Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


    For blogs written by external parties:

    For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

    The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

    Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



    Privacy Policy

    Derechos de autor © 2025 · Magazine Pro en Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

    Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

    Aviso Legal

    Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

    facebook
    twitter
    youtube
    This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
    To learn more about cookies, click here
    X
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT