Quito, February 5. The latest Regional to Global international conference, which was dedicated to the energy transition in Latin America, has taken place in the capital of Ecuador. The conference brought together more than 150 participants from different countries to discuss the region’s energy achievements and review the steps needed to improve the efficiency, sustainability and affordability of power supply in the face of climate change and global transformations.
The forum was attended by scientists, experts and industrialists from Bolivia, Brazil, Chilie, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Russia, the United States, and Uruguay, as well as by employees of the Latin American and Caribbean Energy Organization (OLACDE) headquartered in Quito. Also present were ambassadors of Russia, Chile and Iran, as well as diplomats from Panama, the Dominican Republic and Palestine.
Sergey Brilev, President of the Global Energy Association, who moderated two panel sessions, noted the symbolic meaning of the venue. “It’s highly symbolic that we’re discussing this in Ecuador, at the planet’s equator, the very point where North and South, different development trajectories, literally converge. While we certainly understand that all boundaries are relative in science, still I’d like to point out that Latin America has been shaping not only new markets in recent years, but also new scientific ideas and technologies”, he said.
Fitzgerald Cantero Piali, OLACDE Director of Studies, Projects and Information, said that the region is uniquely positioned in the global energy landscape. He said that Latin America already boasts one of the cleanest energy models in the world: the share of renewables in the region’s energy mix reached 67% last year and could reach 76% by mid-century. Mr. Piali also recalled that over 50% of the world’s reserves of lithium, an essential element for the global energy transition, is concentrated in Latin America. At the same time, he noted that national governments need to work harder on energy demand, paying more attention to areas like green hydrogen and biofuels, which could become crucial to the region’s industrial development.
The need for a more comprehensive approach to energy policy was also highlighted by Hortensia Jiménez Rivera, Director General of the Bolivian Nuclear Energy Agency. She said that Latin American countries need to develop strategies aiming to achieve not only decarbonization but also energy security and energy justice, job creation and social inequality reduction. In this context, she emphasized, nuclear could play a strategic role. This is not limited to power generation: nuclear technologies find application in medicine, industry, science, isotope production and high-tech sectors.
This idea was elaborated upon by Isolda Costa, Technical-scientific Director of Brazilian Association of Nuclear Energy, who presented a major national project for the creation of microreactors for powering remote and isolated communities, which is being implemented by the state of São Paulo. She believes that these microreactors could serve as an important solution not just for Brazil but for the entire region, where about 16 million people are still in need of reliable access to electric power.
Sergey Machekhin, Deputy General Director of PJSC RusHydro for project engineering, sustainable development and international cooperation, spoke about the critical role of hydropower, which remains the foundation of Latin America’s energy balance. He also pointed out a paradoxical trend: the installed capacity of hydraulic power plants worldwide fell by about 17% in recent years despite growing demand and increasing power generation. Mr. Machekhin also said that it is a “trap” to follow the low-carbon agenda unconditionally without accounting for the specifics of national energy systems.
A similar opinion was expressed by Nelson Gutiérrez, research professor at UTE University, who cautioned against attempting to completely replace conventional power generation with renewables. He cited last year’s massive blackout in Spain, where the share of wind and solar in the energy system approached 90% at one point. As an alternative to existing renewables, Mr. Gutiérrez proposed a project for integrating microhydro turbines into active water supply systems.
Erik Escalona Aguilar, professor at the University of Lleida, discussed Chile’s plans. He said that some $5.17 billion, or nearly 85% of Chile’s energy investment, will be channeled to the renewable energy sector every year between 2025 and 2029, although mining will remain the biggest energy consumer in the country.
Especially notable was the speech by José Zagal, Professor Emeritus at the University of Santiago, Chile and one of the region’s top scientists, who figuratively compared Chile to a “rich kid”: the country has considerable resources, but it is precisely this abundance that hinders scientific progress. He noted that research expenditures continue to make up approximately 0.2% of the country’s GDP, a figure that, while one of the highest in the region, is minuscule compared to the investments of the top scientific powers.
The conference also featured a long-awaited ceremony honoring last year’s laureate of the Global Energy Prize, Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Los Angeles, California, Yu Huang. Sergey Brilev personally presented the award to the first female laureate in the prize’s history. Ms. Huang thanked the organizers, stressed the enormous importance of international scientific collaboration and shared her research team’s latest achievement. Working with undergraduate and graduate students, she developed hydrogen fuel cells with platinum catalysts, which help reduce the consumption of expensive materials by up to 80%, thereby accelerating the widespread adoption of clean energy technologies.
Director of the Center for Materials Research at Cornell University, Héctor D. Abruña spoke about the practical experience of creating a microgrid system at the Humberto organic agricultural farm on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico. The project was launched in November last year. “The chief goal of this project is to provide an isolated community with renewable, stable and reliable energy. Our approach consists in producing renewable hydrogen using solar energy and storage systems”, he said. Wind farms were unsuitable for the project due to the high risk of hurricane damage. If successful, the microgrid project could be replicated in other isolated areas.
