Over the past years, the importance of renewable energies has become increasingly clear, be it in its economic, social or environmental aspect. Some of the many benefits of investing in this type of energy are the diversification of the energy matrix, the contribution to the environmental preservation, more job opportunities, lower long-term production costs and democratization of energy access.
Latin America is a large market for this type of energy, since more than a quarter of its primary energy comes from renewable sources, which is twice the world average. In addition, the number of major projects in the region for the expansion of renewable sources, as well as the technological transfer for this purpose, only keeps growing. For example, from 2010 to 2015, there was an investment of almost US$ 120 billion in the sector.
Despite the strong dependence on hydropower, the development of solar, wind and geothermal energy has generated a great contribution to the Latin American energetic matrix, thus potentiating opportunities in the region. In this way, in order to have a better knowledge about the regio profile, here are the main countries in the region with the highest productivity of renewable energy:
10. Uruguay
Production (GWh): 14 234
Capacity (MW): 3 741
9. Ecuador
Production (GWh): 21 224
Capacity (MW): 5 279
8. Venezuela
Production (GWh): 25 278
Capacity (MW): 16 598
7. Peru
Production (GWh): 33 483
Capacity (MW): 6 600
6. Chile
Production (GWh): 38 515
Capacity (MW): 11 488
5. Argentina
Production (GWh): 42 501
Capacity (MW): 12 689
4. Mexico
Production (GWh): 54 770
Capacity (MW): 25 648
3. Colombia
Production (GWh): 58 433
Capacity (MW): 12 375
2. Paraguay
Production (GWh): 59 912
Capacity (MW): 8 832
1. Brazil
Production (GWh): 495 945
Capacity (MW): 141 933
Source: IRENA (2020)
Image: Pixabay
