Country presentations from Uruguay and Ecuador were the focus of the third Long-Term Energy Scenario Virtual Seminar for Latin America and the Caribbean on 3 March, 2021. As with the full series of seminars, this event was the result of a collaboration amongst UN ECLAC, IRENA’s long-standing LTES Network, and GET.transform.
The experience of Uruguay was represented by Alejandra Reyes, Manager of the Statistical Planning and Balance Area of the Ministry of Energy Industry and Mining, who highlighted the close links between the country’s 2005-2030 Energy Plan and the National Climate Change Policy. Alejandra Reyes emphasised the importance of well-defined regulatory frameworks, reliable energy statistics as well as the national energy balance for a coherent energy policy. The initial phase of the planning process is built on workshops with diverse government agencies, in which business as usual (BAU) trends are analysed together with various hypotheses for each sector. Scenarios are then constructed around alternate public policies that may be enacted.
Sharing insights from Ecuador, Ramiro Díaz Castro, Director of Analysis and Electric Prospective of the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources, equally underlined the meaning of the annual National Energy Balance (BEN) report for the country’s clean energy transition roadmap. With regards to the long-term, energy planning has been included in the objectives of the National Energy Plan (PEN) 2050, which defines a comprehensive and sustainable strategy for 2050 sustained in economic, social, environmental and governance axes. In this sense, as is the case for Uruguay, Ecuador proposes BAU as well as alternative scenarios, indicating medium and high levels of intervention in the country’s energy matrix. Transformations range from equipment replacement to electromobility, with one scenario, for example, foreseeing all national public transport becoming electric by 2025.
The exchange between the countries is most valued by the ongoing forum of energy planners of the region, FOREPLEN, which was represented by Ruben Contreras Lisperguer, Economic Affairs Officer at UN ECLAC. He stressed that energy planning opens up ways to respond to the intertwined energy and climate challenges in an integrated fashion, and will help navigate challenges such as the global pandemic and sustainable ways to attract foreign direct investment to the region.
Revisit the full findings by watching the English webcast above or the Spanish version here.
The fourth Long-Term Energy Scenario on 17 March, 2021 will feature lessons learnt from Chile and El Salvador, and will again be available in Spanish and English simultaneously.
