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Wind Power Investment Blowing Towards Chile
The combination of pro-renewable energy legislation, economic stability and industrial demand are fuelling a vibrant wind power sector in Chile. The Latin American nation has limited indigenous energy resources, with the exception of hydropower. As a result, the country must import the bulk of its energy needs. Up until 2004 Chile met most of its demand for energy by importing natural gas through an agreement signed in 1995 with neighbouring Argentina for them to supply 22 million cubic meters a day. However, subsidised energy prices in Argentina boosted domestic demand there, which consequently saw exports to Chile fall drastically. Currently Argentina is only sending 10% of the agreed quantity of natural gas to its Andean neighbour. Faced with an energy crisis beginning to impact upon economic growth, Chile was forced to scour the globe for energy sources says Eugenio Chinchon, a Chilean business development manager specializing in renewable energy “Chile provides most of the copper in the world. As China has been booming and asking for a lot of minerals, the price of copper has gone up. So they want to produce more but because there is a shortage of energy, they couldn’t produce. Also because of historical reasons we don’t have natural resources to produce energy in the north, and the only way to produce has been gas. But we don’t have gas, so we must buy it from other countries. Our neighbours like Peru and Bolivia have a lot of gas, but because of historical reasons, there is a lot of rivalry and they don’t want to sell us gas. So Chile has to buy liquid gas from the Far East and it’s very expensive. So the prices are going very high and the Chilean government wants to have wind energy”
Concentrating Energy in the Atacama
By Pablo Correa
The Atacama Desert is one of the driest, warmest and sunniest places on earth, analogous to the sunbelt of the US. Despite its excellent conditions for developing solar technologies, this movement has yet to take hold in the region. To better understand the Chilean reality in the solar market and the potential development of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) it serves to mention the landscape of Chile itself.
Chile is a long and narrow strip of land, located in South America. The country offers a rich array of climates and terrain. Continental Chile is approximately 4.200 kilometers in length and 300 kilometers in width at its widest point (26° S latitude) with an average of 200 kilometers of width throughout the rest of country.
The country has three distinct zones. Close to the Pacific Ocean the weather is coastal, due to the Cordillera de la Costa (a mountain range with an average elevation of 1.000-1.500 meters) acting as an umbrella for the inner valleys, blocking the passage of coastal moisture, thus causing high cloudiness close to the sea. On the east side, lies the Cordillera de los Andes (with an elevation of 3.000-7.000 meters) prime for cold and cloudy days. Located at the center, between both mountain ranges, lie the inner valleys, which feature wide land with soft slopes and good terrain.
The Alternative Energy Powerhouse
By Mark McHugh
he Alternative Energy Powerhouse
As home to the world’s last major tropical rainforest, one of the largest renewable reserves of fresh water, the planet’s most diverse stock of biodiversity, the best energy matrix of any of the top economies and the most successful industrial-scale production of bio-fuels, Brazil stands out in the environmental arena.
The Driving Force
In anticipation of the Copenhagen summit the Brazilian government made an ambitious pledge to reduce its emissions by at least 36% from business as usual by 2020. Brazil’s new agenda is, politically and psychologically, an important step and it is significant that the Brazilian government is now willing to voluntarily set a target. Although a 75% contribution towards this objective is expected to come from halting deforestation in the Amazon, as with all initiatives to cut carbon emissions, there is no single answer, and significant investment in alternative energy is an essential element in achieving their goals. The Alternative Energy Sources Program (PROINFA), part of the government’s flagship Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), aims to increase the share of energy produced by renewable sources to 10% of total annual energy consumption by 2012.
Argentine Wind Power
Argentina has some of the world's most favorable environmental and geological conditions for wind energy generation, although to date this market position is yet to be fully utilized. At a time when renewable energy sources are proven and have demonstrated their investment potential in Europe, the US and Asia, Latin America remains an untapped opportunity. The economic results of governmental research demonstrate a solid investment opportunity in Argentina's market for wind energy, coupled with rising energy prices and a national energy deficit. Companies such as Nowa energías that specialize in the complete management of renewable investment projects are already working with landowners and energy investors to develop the market foundations.
