Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment
Source: IRENA (2016)
Renewable Energy Capacity Country Data
The primary sources of renewable energy for each of the three countries are indicated as follows;
Argentina- hydropower
Bolivia- hydropower
Chile- hydropower
In Bolivia, solid biomass had the greatest increase in the generation capacity compared to the other sources of renewable energy. The capacity increase from 16 in 2006 to 52 in 2015.
In Chile, there was significant increase in the generation capacity of almost all the energy sources. However, hydropower showed the largest increase in the energy generation capacity between the year 2006 and 2015. The capacity increased from 5093 to 6320 between the years.
Policies to Support Renewable Energy
Chile implemented four policies to enhance the adoption of renewable energy sources in the country. These policies are broken down below;
In 2001 the company launched the rural electrification program. The program was intended to support the adoption of renewable energy in rural electrification program that was taking place in the country. The policy helped stimulate the use of solar, hydropower and wind in the energy generation process. In 2003 the company launched a photovoltaic system that comprised of 6,000 photovoltaic individual systems (IEA). The agency organizations for the project included the ministry of energy, UNDP, and GEF. GEF provide a funding of around 6 million dollars while the Chilean ministry of Energy funded the project with an estimated 26 million dollars.
In 2009 Chile implemented a solar tax rebate program. The program targeted the construction companies as well as the solar manufacturing companies. The policy indicated that the companies that used solar power energy to meet 30% of the thermal energy requirement would benefit from tax credits (IEA).
Also in 2009 Chile came up with another legislation with a socioeconomic concept. The legislation was aimed at enhancing the adaptability of the technologies by the rural communities by training the users and involving them in the decision-making process, especially in the remote areas. In 2013 the program received a funding of 3.1 million dollars and 2.4 million dollars in 2014.
In 2013 the Chilean government implemented a subsidizing program for pilot projects of some of the non-conventional renewable energy sources. Non-conventional projects that were supported under the program included; tide energy projects, geothermal exploration and the concentrated solar power projects. A funding of 85.8 million dollars came from the Chilean Ministry of Energy.
Works Cited
IEA. Rural Electrification with Renewable Energy Program. Web. 9 June. 2016. < http://www.iea.org/policiesandmeasures/renewableenergy/>
IRENA. Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016. 2016. Web. 9 June. 2016. <http://resourceirena.irena.org/gateway/dashboard/?topic=6&subTopic=11>
IRENA. Renewable Energy Power Capacity Data Download. 2016. Web. 9 June. 2016. < http://resourceirena.irena.org/gateway/dashboard/?topic=4&subTopic=15>
