Electric utility alliance to launch at Cop 28

A new international alliance focused on strengthening, modernizing and expanding power transmission and distribution lines is taking shape for launch at the UN's Cop 28 climate summit later this month.

"If we want to have more investment in renewables, we have to invest in modernizing and strengthening grid systems, in transmission and distribution lines," International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) director-general Francesco La Camera told Argus. "This is crucial," he added on the sidelines of the regional energy summit of the Latin American Energy Organization (Olade) in Uruguay.

The new alliance is spearheaded by Irena, the World Economic Forum and Abu Dhabi's TAQA utility.

It currently includes 18 utilities in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, including major players like Denmark's Orsted, France's Engie, Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power and Spain's Iberdrola. The Chilean government could be the first in Latin America to sign on to the initiative.

Regional bottleneck

La Camera said the focus on transmission and distribution is the most critical issue in Latin America, which has abundant natural resources for renewables, but requires more robust transmission and distribution systems and new regulatory frameworks.

Government authorities from around the region agree that power lines are the bottleneck.

Edward Veras, executive director of the Dominican Republic's national energy commission, said distribution has been his country's most pressing issue in the energy sector. He said the government has improved generation and transmission capacity, but distribution remains a challenge.

The Argentinian government is working on new plans to "unclog" transmission lines in order to ramp up renewable participation in the country's grids, Florencia Teran, undersecretary for renewable energy, said. It has a plan for new public-private partnerships to build transmission lines and increase the use of distributed energy systems to take advantage of its bioenergy, solar and wind capacity.

In Guyana, the government is also focused on distributed energy, with plans for small solar and hydroelectric plants, including 0.75MW and 1.5MW hydroelectric plants currently out for tender.

Chief executive of the Guyana energy agency, Mahender Sharma, said the government was evaluating proposals for 33MW of solar power that it wants to bring on line in the next 12-18 months.

La Camera said private investment is critical, but international cooperation and funding from multilateral financial institutions will a;sp be needed.

"The private sector is financing generation projects, but it can't do both," he said. It "will require multilateral participation."

By Lucien Chauvin