Latin American Power & Energy Outlook, 2024

Policy Support and Lower Project Costs Drive Strong Renewable Energy Growth

Hydropower will remain the leading source of electricity in Latin America throughout the forecast period (2024 to 2035), but renewable energy (RE) will experience substantial increases. Utility solar photovoltaic (PV) power and onshore wind dominate total investment. Latin America’s offshore wind sector is far less developed than those of Europe or China, but this industry will take off after 2030. The region’s ample availability of natural gas will drive investments in new power plants. Gas will see a modest decline in its share of the electricity mix; in terms of electricity generated, and in absolute terms, it will be nearly 50% higher in 2035 than it was in 2023. This change reflects the region’s substantial reserves of natural gas that governments are keen to both utilize and monetize. Total electricity generated will increase substantially as economic growth drives higher consumption and production of hydrogen in states such as Chile. The region has been relatively slow in developing policy frameworks for hydrogen, but that is changing.

This outlook on the power and energy sectors in Latin America offers data and analysis for the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. The study period is 2023 to 2035.