While I write mostly about the United States, Europe or China, a lot is happening in other regions of the world. An example of this is the growth of renewable energy sources in Latin America.
Lately, I have come across a few large projects in this region. In Chile, a 300 MW solar project worth $600 million (430 million euros) was just approved by the local government as PV Tech reported in late February.
In January 2014 alone, the country added no less than 186.3 MW of renewable energy capacity, leading the total capacity to 1,298 MW. As one can see, the market is booming there.
—
Meanwile, Mexico is according to Greentech Media, ” the most attractive near-term solar market in Latin America ” as the installed capacity will quadruple this year, from 60 to 240 MW. The country had announced last year projects to go for 35 percent renewables by 2026.
Additionally, the country is according to El Pais developing 800 sustainable agriculture projects that will prevent the emissions of 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. These include using various means such as biogas from pigs dejections, as well as solar thermal panels to heat water.
—
Costa Rica is also willing to develop small renewable energy projects in the countryside. As a sign of this, the wind energy giant Vestas has signed for a 21 MW wind farm in the region of Guanacaste.
As the local newspaper Costa Rica Star noted, the country produces 91% of its energy from renewable sources: 73% from hydroelectric power, 13% from geothermal plants, 4% from wind turbines, and 1% from biomass, quoting data from the Costa Rica Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE).
—
To conclude, these countries are just a few new examples of how South America is converting itself to renewables. In the past I have published articles on Nicaragua, Peru as well as the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires.
