Uruguay again to exceed 90% renewable electricity generation in 2022

Electric power generation in Uruguay returned to over 90% renewable in 2022, according to data from the Preliminary Energy Balance of the Energy Directorate of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM).

“In 2022, there was a lower consumption of fossil fuels as generation inputs and a higher consumption of hydraulic energy, which contributed to the increase in the share of renewable sources in the electricity matrix. This resulted in a value of 91%.

“Meanwhile, electricity production was reduced by 8% and exported half as much as the previous year”, states the MIEM report, which anticipates the data of the National Energy Balance (BEN) to be published in the middle of the year.

Likewise, in 2022, the final electricity consumption grew 2% compared to the previous year, an expected increase considering that the economy’s growth was 4.9% this last year and the weather conditions did not present extreme situations.

“Regarding the composition by the source of electricity generation, in 2022, hydroelectric generation stands out, which corresponded to a 39% share, followed in importance by electricity from wind [32%] and from biomass [17%],” the report adds.

And completes: “On the other hand, electricity generated with fossil fuels and solar energy had 9% and 3% shares, respectively.”

“The reduction in the share of electricity from fossil fuels stands out, given that in 2021 its share was 15%, partly explained by the exports made to Brazil in that year”.

Regarding the primary matrix, the share of fossil fuel sources was 44%.

In absolute value, fossil fuel supply grew 2% over 2021, and the percentage share increased by 1%.

The share of fossil energy in 2021 was the highest proportion in the electricity matrix since 2013, thanks to the structural and cultural change in 2007 when this South American country bet on renewable energy sources and reached peaks of 98% of total generation in 2019.

This edition of the preliminary balance also includes the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission factor of the National Interconnected System.

For 2022 it corresponded to 71 Gg (Gigagrams) of CO2 per GWh (Gigawatts per hour) of electricity generated and delivered to the grid.

Although there was a 30% reduction compared to 2021, electricity generation from renewable sources remained at the highest levels in recent years.

With information from Sputnik