Electricity sector in Peru
| Data | |
|---|---|
| Electricity coverage (July 2011) | 89% (total), 61% (rural); (LAC total average in 2007: 92%) |
| Installed capacity (2006) | 6.7 GW |
| Share of fossil energy | 52% |
| Share of renewable energy | 48% (hydro) |
| GHG emissions from electricity generation (2003) | 3.32 Mt CO2 |
| Average electricity use (2006) | 872 kWh per capita |
| Distribution losses (2006) | 6.3%; (LAC average in 2005: 13.6%) |
| Transmission losses (2006) | 4.7% |
| Residential consumption (% of total) |
24% |
| Industrial consumption (% of total) |
66% |
| Commercial consumption (% of total) |
19% |
| Average residential tariff (US$/kW·h, 2006) |
0.1046; (LAC average in 2005: 0.115) |
| Annual investment in electricity (2006) | 484.6 million (27% public, 73% private) |
| Services | |
| Sector unbundling | Yes |
| Share of private sector in generation | 69% |
| Competitive supply to large users | Yes |
| Competitive supply to residential users | No |
| Institutions | |
| No. of service providers | 38 (generation), 6 (transmission), 22 (distribution) |
| Responsibility for regulation | DGE-National Electricity Office |
| Responsibility for policy-setting | DGE-National Electricity Office |
| Responsibility for the environment | National Environment Commission (CONAM) |
| Electricity sector law | Yes (1992, modified in 1997) |
| Renewable energy law | No |
| CDM transactions related to the electricity sector | 7 registered CDM project; 800,020 t CO2e annual emissions reductions |
The electricity sector in Peru has experienced impressive improvements in the past 15 years. Access to electricity has increased from 45% in 1990 to 88.8% in July 2011, while service quality and efficiency of service provision improved. These improvements were made possible through privatizations following reforms initiated in 1992. At the same time, electricity tariffs have remained in line with the average for Latin America.
However, several challenges remain. Chief among them are the still very low level of access in rural areas and the untapped potential of some renewable energies, in particular wind and solar energy, due to an inadequate regulatory framework.
The current electricity generation capacity is evenly divided between thermal and hydroelectric sources. A renewed recent dynamism of the electricity sector in the country is based on the shift to natural gas plants, which will be mainly fed from the production of the Camisea gas field in the Amazon Rainforest.
The National Interconnected System (SEIN) serves 85% of the connected population, with several “isolated” systems covering the rest of the country. While investment in generation, transmission and distribution in urban areas is predominantly private, resources for rural electrification come solely from public sources.
Installed generating capacity Peru is evenly divided between thermal and hydroelectric sources. In 2006, the country had 6.7 GW of installed capacity, 52% being thermal and 48% hydroelectric, with a negligible share of other renewable sources. Of the total capacity, 84% (5.63 GW) enters the electricity market, while the remaining 16% (1,03 GW) is generated for self-consumption.
However, electricity generation is not evenly divided between the two dominating sources. In 2006, 72% of Peru’s total electricity generation came from hydroelectric plants (total generation was 27.4 TWh), with conventional thermal plants only in operation during peak load periods or when hydroelectric output is curtailed by weather events. This “underuse” of the country’s thermal capacity is due to the high variable costs of thermal generation. In 2004, the country’s reserve margin was estimated at 45%. However, when those high cost thermal plants were taken out of the equation, margins fell to as low as 15%.
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