Can climate variability increase energy security

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Taking the Colombian electrical system as a case study, this work – carried out by Juan Roberto Paredes and John J. Ramírez C. – evaluates the complementarity between variable renewable energies: wind, solar and hydroelectric, the latter one of the most abundant resources in Latin America. The analysis of this complementarity is very relevant since, despite the natural variability of these sources, the determination of their behavior at a temporal and geographic level can help the reliable supply of electricity and therefore the energy security of the countries. Before addressing in detail the Colombian case that we will discuss in the following note, we address below some considerations about the contribution of variable renewable energies to energy security.

An increasingly demanding environment Energy consumption in the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region grows at the same pace as the economy. This development puts pressure C Level Executive List on governments to increase their generation, transmission and distribution capacity, and the requirement to guarantee energy security. The International Energy Agency defines energy security as the “uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.” The use of renewable energies has direct implications for the energy security of countries. These are indigenous and local sources, which reduce dependence on imported fuels while providing innumerable environmental benefits.



Reduction of greenhouse gases, improvement in air quality and lower water consumption per unit of electricity produced, to mention just some of these advantages. Until a few years ago, the high investment cost involved in the development of these technologies was the main barrier to their expansion, but in the last decade these costs have decreased significantly. However, all of these resources – the sun, the wind, the water – are variable by nature, which makes it difficult to deliver electricity at the precise moment when consumers demand it. On the other hand, in conventional power plants – which run on fossil fuels – it is possible to store and process energy almost immediately. There are two variables that are used to mitigate the variability.