The opportunity
As a consequence of high GDP growth and an increase in
industrial consumption of power, Uruguay's energy demand is
constantly on the rise. The country does not possess native fossil
fuel resources and while it has a number of hydropower plants,
these do no operate during dry periods, forcing the country to
purchase electricity from Argentina at up to US$400/MWh.
In 2008, the Política Energética Uruguay 2030 was
approved by the National Congress. It established a target of 15
per cent of electricity demand to be derived from renewable sources
(wind, biomass and micro-hydro projects) by 2015. In 2013 this
target was overhauled to an ambitious 90 per cent of total capacity
being generated through renewables by the end of 2015. In June
2015, however, comments from Gonzalo Casaravilla, chairman of the
state-owned electric utility UTE, indicated that this goalpost had
been moved to the end of 2016.
