Meeting the Balance of Electricity Supply and Demand in Latin America and the Caribbean (Directions in Development)

Over the coming decades, the supply of electric power will need to expand to meet the growing demand for electricity, but how the production and use of electricity develops will have broad ramifications for the diverse economies and societies of Latin America and the Caribbean. This report discusses the critical issues for the power sector considering a baseline scenario to 2030 for countries and sub-regions. Among these critical issues are the demand for electricity, the total new supply of electric generating capacity needed, the technology and fuel mix of the generating capacity, and the CO2 emissions of the sector. Under modest GDP growth assumptions, the demand for electricity in Latin America and the Caribbean would more than double by 2030. The analysis suggests that under any economic scenario, it will be challenging for the Region to meet future electricity demand. The report shows that meeting the demand for electricity in Latin America and the Caribbean can be achieved by not only building new generating capacity by the expansion of hydropower and natural gas, but by relying on an increased supply of non-hydro renewables, expanding electricity trade, and making use of supply and demand-side energy efficiency to lower the overall demand for electricity. Some recommendations derived from the report are the need for strengthening regulations and market design of hydropower and gas power generation projects and the need to design supportive policies to develop renewable energy technologies and promote energy efficiency measures. The primary audience to which this report is addressed are policy makers, power sector planners and stakeholders.