This report evaluates the institutional and regulatory framework for the promotion of renewable energy sources in Peru (e.g., hydropower, wind power, solar thermal and solar PV). The study also evaluates the cases of Brazil and Colombia.

Refrigerators and air conditioning units feature high on the wish lists of people in hot countries. The International Energy Agency (IEA) calculates that by the year 2030 the energy consumption for air conditioning in developing countries and emerging nations will be four times what it is today. It is often the case that the gases used as refrigerants are produced chemically. They are damaging to the ozone layer and accelerate climate change. By contrast green technologies use natural gases in the cooling process, are more energy efficient and can be driven by sun or wind power.

This report examines the feasibility of private investment in wind power in Colombia within the current regulatory framework. It focuses especially on the regulatory methodology for estimating the ‘firm energy’ that wind power plants are capable of providing in Colombia to back up hydro generation during extended periods of drought (El Niño weather events). The report concludes that the current methodology probably underestimates wind’s firm energy contribution by a substantial amount. This in turn means that wind power stations receive a lower firm energy payment than they should.