WSHPDR_2013_Final_Report-updated_version

2.3 South America
Teo Sanchez, Practical Action
Introduction to the region
South America comprises 14 countries and territories i
covering 16 246,210 km 2 , with a population of over
388 million inhabitants, of which, 84.1 million live in
urban areas. Over 17 million have no access to
electricity, which represents only 4.4 per cent of the
total population and 27.7 per cent of the rural
population.
South America enjoys a diverse set of climate
conditions; from very warm in the Amazon and
Caribbean coast, reaching maximum temperatures of
over 30°C all the year round, to very cold average
temperatures of 0°C in the higher locations of the
Andes. Rainfall varies from 1 mm a year (Atacama
Desert) to an average of 5,000 mm in wet areas. It is
also home to the largest river in the world, the
Amazon River.
In all countries, hydropower electricity comes from
large plants feeding into the national grids.
Hydropower has also been used to supply electricity to
small towns and villages in rural areas, but small scale
hydropower has not been developed to its full
potential. National electricity supply is highly
dependent on hydropower in Paraguay (96 per cent),
Brazil (87 per cent), Venezuela (70 per cent) and
Colombia (75-76 per cent). In other countries too,
such as Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, large proportions of
annual electricity consumption is derived from
hydropower-based sources.
Table 1
Overview of countries in Southern America
Country
Population
(million)
Rural
population
(%)
Electricity
access (%)
Electrical
capacity
(MW)
Electricity
generation
(GWh/year)
Hydropower
capacity
(MW)
Hydropower
generation
(GWh/year)
Argentina abcdei 40.41 8 97.2 33 810 128 922 10 045 39 920
Plurinational State
9.92 33 77.5 1 459 6 085 477 3 876
of Bolivia abcehi
Brazil abcefi 190.75 13 99.0 117 134 532 872 82 458 403 250
Chile abcei 17.11 11 98.5 17 530 62 429 5 991 23 871
Colombia abcei 46.29 25 93.6 14 424 64 230 9 718 38 714
Ecuador abce 14. 46 33 93.1 5 090 20 544 2 242 9 170
French Guiana abceg 0.23 24 .. 284 838 129 ..
Peru abcei 29.07 23 85.7 8 556 12 975 3 453 20 038
Uruguay abce 3.35 8 98.3 2 683 9 890 1 538 8 050
Total 351.59 - - 200 820 838 785 116 051 538 839
Sources:
a. Central Intelligence Agency 1
b. International Energy Agency 2
c. World Bank 3
d. Alvarez 4
e. International Journal on Hydropower and Dams 5
f. Tiago Filho, Geraldo Lucio 6
g. Électricité de France and Direction des Systemes Energetiques Insulaires 7
h. Comité Nacional de Despacho de Carga 8
i. Organización Latinoamericana de Energía 9
Small hydropower definition
Most countries do not have an official small
hydropower definition (table 2).
Table 2
Classification of small hydropower in South America
Country
Small
(MW)
Mini (kW) Micro
(kW)
Pico
(kW)
Argentina 0.5-15 50-500 5-50 ..
Plurinational State .. .. ..
of Bolivia
Brazil 30 .. .. ..
Chile 2.1-20 101-2000 5.1-100 0.2–5
Colombia 0-10 .. .. ..
Ecuador 0- 10 .. .. ..
French
.. .. .. ..
Guiana
Peru .. .. ..
Uruguay .. .. .. ..
Regional overview and potential
Countries such as Peru and Argentina began using
small hydropower installations either for the provision
of lighting, small businesses or for industrial activities
such as mining. Out of the 14 countries and territories
only French Guiana and the Falkland Islands do not
have small hydropower plants. ii
Small-scale hydropower programmes have been
implemented in almost all countries in the region
since the early 1970s, the Latin American Energy
Organization (OLADE) being one of the most relevant
promoters; OLADE especially championed the
promotion of micro and mini hydropower systems
during the 1970s and early 1980s. More recently,
however, the promotion of small hydropower has
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