Huge, sparsely populated areas, steady winds from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, plus plateaus and deserts with intense sunlight make South America an attractive location for wind and solar farms. According to the Global Energy Monitor, the region has the potential to become the world leader in renewable energies. If all announced, planned and under construction plants in Latin America (Mexico, Central America, Caribbean and South America) are added together, 319 GW of new generating capacity will be connected to the grid by 2030. This represents an increase of 460 percent.
South America's champions of the energy transition
The energy transition is also making progress in South America. Brazil, Chile and Colombia in particular are investing heavily in the expansion of wind and solar power plants. In order for these to be connected to the grid, the grid infrastructure must be converted and smart transformers must be installed.
South America's champions of the energy transition
The energy transition is also making progress in South America. Brazil, Chile and Colombia in particular are investing heavily in the expansion of wind and solar power plants. In order for these to be connected to the grid, the grid infrastructure must be converted and smart transformers must be installed.
Of course, the starting conditions in the individual countries are very different, both politically and in terms of resources. What is clear, however, is that the demand for electricity is rising, as it is everywhere in the world, whether due to population growth or industrial growth. Moritz Werner, Head of Sales at MR and responsible for the Latin American region, sees a clear trend for this region of the world, despite all the country-specific differences. In the coming years, he expects massive investments in renewable energies.
"As in Europe, the energy transition in Latin America is only possible in conjunction with a restructuring of the grid structure, because energy generation and consumption are separated locally." Grids must therefore be expanded and extended. In addition to new high-voltage lines, new substations with power transformers that enable dynamic load flow control are also required. Three countries in particular are at the forefront of this transformation process: Brazil, Chile and Colombia. This is where most wind power and solar projects are planned by 2030.
Example 1: Brazil
Hydropower has played a central role in Brazil's energy mix for decades; around 60 percent of electricity is still generated from this source. After China, Brazil ranks second in terms of the amount of electricity generated with hydropower. For the time being. Because due to climate change, the rains are increasingly rare and the reservoirs are threatening to dry up. Therefore, South America's largest country has been investing in the expansion of wind and solar power for years. Currently, with 27 gigawatts of installed capacity the share is still around 10 percent. But if you look at the new investments planned for wind power plants, the country ranks fifth worldwide.
„With volatile feed-in and fluctuating grid load, dynamic control and transformer monitoring are also becoming more important in South America.“
Example 2: Chile
Traditionally, Chile has met its energy needs with imported fossil fuels, because the country itself has no oil or gas reserves. The resulting energy dependence on foreign countries poses a risk to the national economy. For about a decade, therefore, the transformation of the energy matrix has been in full swing. While the share of renewable energies was still three percent in 2014, it was already 25 percent in 2020. By 2030, the country even plans to generate 100 percent of its electricity from renewable energies. This is because the conditions in the country are particularly favorable. In the north in the Atacama Desert, for example, solar radiation is more intense than anywhere else in the world. No wonder that South America's first solar thermal power plant (Cerro Dominador Solar Complex) was connected to the grid here in 2021.
Most of the electricity is needed in the centre of Chile, as here in the capital Santiago de Chile.
The sunlight in the Atacama Desert is particularly intense.
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Large photovoltaic power plants are also taking advantage of the region's ideal conditions, and even more solar parks are to be built in the future. The winds also blow favorably in Chile, although not in the Atacama Desert, but especially in the very south. In Patagonia, the potential for wind power plants is particularly good. However, most of the energy is needed in the centre of the country in the metropolitan area of the capital. Therefore, the region needs long and powerful high-voltage lines to bring the solar power from the north as well as the wind power from the south to its designated place.
New opportunities for transformer manufacturers
New opportunities for transformer manufacturers
The expansion of renewable energies also offers opportunities for domestic industry. For example, RHONA, Chile's largest transformer manufacturer, has realised a state-of-the-art power transformer with MR technology for the grid connection of a wind farm south of the capital Santiago de Chile and has thus successfully asserted itself in the domestic market in competition with international transformer manufacturers. The 100/133 MVA power transformer, equipped with state-of-the-art monitoring technology, is the largest ever built in Chile.
Read more about the successful project with MR in ONLOAD 13
Example 3: Colombia
Colombia has also set itself ambitious climate targets and, like Chile, aims to decarbonize 100 percent of its power generation by 2030. Currently, a large part of the country's electricity is generated with hydropower, which can even cover about 85 percent of the electricity demand in the rainy season. But as in Brazil, climate change is threatening the security of supply. Most of the remaining energy is still generated with fossil fuels. But the share of solar and wind power plants is to be massively expanded. By 2030, an installed capacity of 37 gigawatts is planned.
Latin America's electricity generation
61 %
of electricity in Latin America comes from renewable energy sources.
75 %
of electricity generated from renewable sources come from hydropower.
69 gigawatts
of installed capacity from solar and wind power are currently connected to the grid.
319 gigawatts
of installed solar and wind power capacity will be connected to the grid by 2030.
Green energy export
In addition to meeting the country's own needs, there are also efforts to export the energy generated from renewable sources due to the favorable production conditions. Some South American countries, including Chile and Brazil, have formulated hydrogen strategies. Green hydrogen produced with renewable energies is then to be exported to the European Union, for example.
"These projects are still in the early stages, so it is not yet possible to say how the plans will affect the energy sector," says Werner. But there are other considerations as well: In January 2023, for example, Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro floated the idea of building an all-American power grid stretching from Patagonia to Alaska, so that the U.S. and Canada could be supplied with green power from the south. South America's path to a climate-friendly future therefore remains exciting.
Smart transformers for the energy transition
Due to the energy transition, ongoing monitoring of grid transformers is becoming more important to dynamic control because of volatile feed-in and fluctuating grid utilisation. Reinhausen offers the right solutions here with a complete portfolio from tap-changers (control of voltage and load flows) to automation technology for transformers (monitoring and control of operating states).
More about the on-load tap-changer portfolio More on automation technology
