South America

Latin America, which includes Mexico, Central and South America, has some of the most dynamic renewable energy markets, with more than a quarter of primary energy coming from renewables. The costs for solar and onshore wind power have fallen so that they no longer need financial support to compete with conventional power generation in many of the countries.[1]  This portal page focuses on renewable energy development and key statistics pertaining to renewable energy for several countries throughout South America/Latin America.

Electricity Generation by Region, Latin America

Source: International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 2021[2]

Electricity Capacity by Region, Latin America

Source: International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 2021[3]

Argentina

Argentina’s goal is to increase energy generation from renewables to reach 20 percent of the country’s demand by 2025. The government has awarded 244 projects that add more than 6,300 MW of installed capacity of renewable energies. The power generation from biogas increased 42.5%, biomass increased 30.4%, wind increased 28.4%, and solar increased 52.3%.[4]

Argentina launched the RenoAr program in 2016 to promote private renewable energy generation via auction. By the end of 2016, the program had resulted in 59 awarded projects with a combined capacity of 2.4 GW and combined investment of $3 billion. An additional round in 2017 brings the total projects awarded since the program began to 147 with 4.4 GW of renewable energy projects.[5]

According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Argentina’s electricity generation from renewable sources totaled 43,049 GWh in 2020.[6]

Source: International Renewable Energy Agency, 2022[7]

Brazil

Brazil led in new hydropower capacity in 2019, second in ethanol production, third in biodiesel production, and fourth in solar water heating capacity. Brazil is third in renewable power capacity behind the United States and China.[8] Brazil’s nuclear energy market is planning to more than quadruple its nuclear power generation by 2050. Brazil’s electricity market is the largest in Latin America and the 7th largest generation capacity in the world at 173.2 GW. In terms of Brazil’s energy mix, hydropower represents 63%, wind power is the second largest source of energy at 15 GW of installed capacity, and solar has tripled and reached 3 GW in installed capacity.[9]

According to data from IRENA, Brazil’s electricity generation from renewable sources totaled 522,935 GWh, 84% of Brazil’s electricity generation.[10]

Source: International Renewable Energy Agency, 2022[11]

Chile

Chile seeks to be carbon neutral by 2050 and retire thermal power plants by 2040. The country’s top priorities include the promotion of energy storage and the Green Hydrogen Initiative which would make Chile a top exporter of hydrogen by 2050. The government has set 2030 as the target for having 70 percent of the country’s energy from renewable sources; the country is currently at 33%. As of December 2021, Chile has an installed power capacity of 30,862 MW, which is a 14.8% increase from the previous year. Of this total, 6,198 MW comes from solar, and 3,536 MW comes from wind.[12]

Source: International Renewable Energy Agency, 2022[13]

Colombia

Colombia has an electric power generation capacity of 17,726 MW as of 2021. Hydro accounts for 68%, coal and gas power plants account for 31% and wind accounts for 1%. Colombia plans to focus on solar and wind as evidenced by the work being done to strengthen La Guajira which is the largest source of wind energy in the country. The country also aims to generate 2.5GW of solar, wind, and biomass by 2022.[14]

According to data from IRENA, Colombia’s renewable energy electricity generation from renewable sources totaled 51,790 GWh in 2020.[15]

Source: International Renewable Energy Agency, 2022[16]

Costa Rica

Costa Rica generates less than 1% of its energy production from solar power, Hydro production is 79%, Wind 12%, and Geothermal 8%. Renewable energy in Costa Rica supplied about 98.53% of the energy output for the whole nation in 2018. Costa Rica’s high number per capita of rivers, dams, and volcanoes provides many renewable energy sources.[17]  According to data from IRENA, Costa Rica’s renewable energy electricity generation from renewable sources totaled 11,755 GWh in 2020.[18]

Source: International Renewable Energy Agency, 2022[19]

Paraguay

Paraguay’s electricity generation is produced by 100 per cent renewable energy sources, the majority from hydroelectric resources, with a power production capacity close to 50,000 GWh per year. Paraguay energy supply comes mainly from hydrologic (41%) and biomass (36.8%) resources as of 2019.[20]

Source: International Renewable Energy Agency, 2022[21]

Updated November 2022 by Erin Bennett