PERU PERUSES ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

RENEWABLE POWER = PERUVIAN POWER

Wind and solar power hard at work in Peru.

The Peruvian government has announced a portfolio of 35 renewable energy projects. Though alternative energy has been slow to catch on in Peru, the government wants to take advantage of the country’s rich solar and wind potential, in an effort to diversify away from oil dependency and fight climate change.

One of the proposed projects could make Peru a major exporter of “clean” energy: a hydropower plant located in the Amazon with the potential to generate over 7,500 megawatts per year. Peru uses only 350 megawatts per year.

Fifteen of the proposed projects are for hydropower. Other projects include wind, geothermic, solar and tidal power, as well as the development of a national solar map. The solar map would chart levels of solar radiation across Peru, and would guide the location of solar panels. The government predicts that at some sites, one solar panel could generate as much energy as 15 panels in other sites. The price tag for all 35 projects is expected to be US$35 billion over 15 years.

Peru currently depends on oil for 56 percent of its energy, with more than half of it’s oil imported from other countries. The government plans on replacing much of the imported oil with Peruvian natural gas, and increasing the country’s use of renewable energy from 27 percent to 33 percent. The goal is to reduce the use of oil to 25 per cent of 2004 levels by 2011.

A law on renewable energy aiming to provide funding for research and development was proposed to Peru’s congress on February 1, and should be passed before the end of the month. Shoutout to the government of Peru for jumping on the alternative energy bandwagon.

Sources, resources, discourses:

1. latinamericanpress – article
2. SciDevNet – article
3. hotStocked.com - article