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Latin American hydropower: A century of uneven evolution

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  • Rubio, M. del Mar
  • Tafunell, Xavier
Abstract
Latin America is home to a number of the largest countries powered by hydroelectricity in the world today, both in absolute and per capita levels. This region accounts for over 20 per cent of the world’s hydropower and has by far the largest share of hydroelectricity over total electricity generation in the world. Excluding China, Latin American hydropower exhibits the fastest growth in the world over the last 30 years. Despite these records, Latin America’s large hydroelectric potential began to be realised late in comparison to most advanced countries, and its advance has been notably uneven across time and space. This article provides a succinct survey of the evolution of hydropower for 20 Latin American countries over the past century and offers a unique quantitative, comparative perspective into the past and present of hydroelectricity in the region. We investigate the role played by the different domestic energy endowments in the way hydroelectricity developed across the region. We conclude that the gross theoretical hydroelectric potential is a necessary but not sufficient condition for understanding the historical evolution of hydroelectricity in different countries. We used panel data analysis to examine the role of alternative sources of energy, electric demand and each nation’s capacity to supply electricity infrastructure. Our model explicitly accounts for the effects of different gross theoretical potentials and the effect of time passage. Overall, we report that Latin American hydropower followed an uneven path over the 20th century.

Suggested Citation

  • Rubio, M. del Mar & Tafunell, Xavier, 2014. "Latin American hydropower: A century of uneven evolution," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 323-334.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:38:y:2014:i:c:p:323-334
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2014.05.068
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Sofia Teives Henriques & Paul Sharp, 2021. "Without coal in the age of steam and dams in the age of electricity: an explanation for the failure of Portugal to industrialize before the Second World War," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 25(1), pages 85-105.
    4. Solarin, Sakiru Adebola & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2015. "On the causal dynamics between hydroelectricity consumption and economic growth in Latin America countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1857-1868.
    5. Pinto, Ricardo & Henriques, Sofia T. & Brockway, Paul E. & Heun, Matthew Kuperus & Sousa, Tânia, 2023. "The rise and stall of world electricity efficiency:1900–2017, results and insights for the renewables transition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    6. Zsuzsanna Csereklyei, M. d. Mar Rubio-Varas, and David I. Stern, 2016. "Energy and Economic Growth: The Stylized Facts," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    7. López, Andrea Ruíz & Krumm, Alexandra & Schattenhofer, Lukas & Burandt, Thorsten & Montoya, Felipe Corral & Oberländer, Nora & Oei, Pao-Yu, 2020. "Solar PV generation in Colombia - A qualitative and quantitative approach to analyze the potential of solar energy market," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 148, pages 1266-1279.
    8. Wagner, Beatrice & Hauer, Christoph & Schoder, Angelika & Habersack, Helmut, 2015. "A review of hydropower in Austria: Past, present and future development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 304-314.
    9. Icaza, Daniel & Borge-Diez, David & Galindo, Santiago Pulla, 2022. "Analysis and proposal of energy planning and renewable energy plans in South America: Case study of Ecuador," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 314-342.
    10. Kirchherr, Julian & Matthews, Nathanial, 2018. "Technology transfer in the hydropower industry: An analysis of Chinese dam developers’ undertakings in Europe and Latin America," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 546-558.
    11. Wang, Yongpei & Yan, Weilong & Zhuang, Shangwen & Zhang, Qian, 2019. "Competition or complementarity ? The hydropower and thermal power nexus in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 531-541.
    12. Benjamin Leiva & Mar Rubio-Varas, 2020. "The Energy and Gross Domestic Product Causality Nexus in Latin America 1900-2010," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(1), pages 423-435.

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