The Association of Latin American Electrical Energy Distributors (ADELAT) held a Workshop in which experts from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) shared their perspectives on the need to accelerate the investments for the energy transition in the power distribution networks of Latin America.

The president of ADELAT, Aldo Pessanha, welcomed the meeting and gave a summary of the history of the Association and its work to enhance the role of distributors and facilitate the energy transition of the region.

Then, the executive director, Alessandra Amaral, explained ADELAT’s role as a knowledge generator and introduced the topic of debate. Next she gave the floor to the Knowledge Management Director, Roberto Cajamarca, who presented the conclusions of the Policy Paper published by the Association, called “No investment, no transition. The future of electricity distribution in Latin America”, whose results reveal that additional investments of up to US$ 289 billion will be required for distributors in 7 countries analyzed, until the year 2040.

Next, Amaral took the floor again to introduce the two invited experts: Ricardo Gorini (Head of REmap at IRENA) and Pablo Hevia-Koch (Head of Renewable Integration and secure electricity at IEA).

Gorini referred to the studies published by IRENA in relation to energy transformation and the need for investments at a global level to improve distribution systems. He also emphasized the role of banks, regulators and planners to make financing viable and thus generate less impact on tariffs. “Society’s payment capacity is limited, so we have to see how to compensate for this process in a structured and planned way,” he stated.

Hevia-Koch, on the other hand, emphasized that the nature of electricity systems is changing and that investment in distribution is critical, for both emerging and advanced economies. “In the last five years, investment in networks worldwide has been stagnant,” he said, and warned that if the investments do not materialize, the growth of renewable energies will be slowed and dependence on fossil fuels will further increase.

After the presentations, an interactive debate took place, in which participants answered questions, voted between different options and asked their own questions to the panelists.

We thank all attendees for their active participation and we trust that this event contributed to promoting dialogue and knowledge on such an important topic for the effective energy transformation of Latin America.

*For more information or press releases, write to comunicacion@darkturquoise-zebra-776384.hostingersite.com