At the end of that same year, the government also published the Plan for the Development of Alternative Energies 2025<\/a>, which promoted clean energy generation with the intention of selling<\/a> the surplus to neighbouring countries Chile, Peru, Brazil and Argentina. It gained momentum this year with advances in the construction<\/a> of cross-border transmission infrastructure, energy minister Franklin Molina said.<\/p>\n In 2015, the state-run National Electricity Company<\/a> (ENDE) annual report set out a target for Bolivia to become a net electricity exporter. According to the company, by 2025 domestic demand would exceed 3,000 MW, and since 13,382 MW would be generated by then, it could sell the remaining 10,000 MW.<\/p>\n These policies propelled Bolivia\u2019s clean energy ambitions above those of neighbouring countries. But what progress has it made?<\/p>\n Currently, energy production in Bolivia is based heavily on natural gas: it accounts for 80.7% of total domestic generation. Liquid hydrocarbons (oil, condensate and natural gasoline) follow with 13.9%. Renewable energies generated by biomass (4.5%) and hydropower (0.85%) also contribute, based on data<\/a> compiled by the firm Energ\u00e9tica and WWF in 2021.<\/p>\n 80.7%<\/p>\n Hydropower is one of the main pillars of Bolivia\u2019s energy transition. Currently, 19 plants are being studied that will add more than 8,500 MW of capacity. Four are under construction and three have been built, according to the Solon Foundation<\/a>, an environmental NGO.<\/p>\n The largest projects, such as the Bala-Chepete hydroelectric dams, still generate debate about their costs and benefits, since they impact indigenous peoples and protected natural areas<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been important advances in these years,\u201d Miguel Fern\u00e1ndez Fuentes, director of Energ\u00e9tica told Di\u00e1logo Chino. The first, he says, is that the energy transition is now part of the official discourse.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is that Bolivia\u2019s energy matrix is anchored in hydrocarbon consumption. Despite photovoltaic parks, wind energy and biomass, 93% [of consumption] is still dominated by fossil fuels,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Despite recent strides, Fern\u00e1ndez and at least four experts consulted by Di\u00e1logo Chino see the fulfilment of Bolivia\u2019s national plans and international climate commitments, including those under the Paris Agreement, as distant prospects. Fossil fuels remain \u201comnipresent in all sectors\u201d, Fern\u00e1ndez says.<\/p>\n In 2021, revenues from natural gas sales to Brazil and Argentina reached US$2.4 billion, according to official data<\/a>. But dwindling national reserves mean such sales are unsustainable over the long term.<\/p>\n According to Pablo Villegas, a hydrocarbons researcher at the Bolivian Center for Documentation and Research (CEDIB), natural gas reserves are running out, forcing the country into an \u201cinvoluntary\u201d energy transition.<\/p>\n The last official certification of reserves in 2018 estimated<\/a> that 10.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas remained. According to Fundaci\u00f3n Milenio<\/a>, a Bolivian think-tank, 80% of operational gas fields are in decline. Only 17% are in development and 3% are operating at maximum production.<\/p>\n In addition to profits from gas sales, oil also fills national coffers through the Direct Tax on Hydrocarbons (IDH), royalties and other taxes, which are distributed to departmental and municipal governments and public universities. Between 2006 and 2019, partly thanks to high international prices, the country earned US$37.4 billion dollars from these streams.<\/p>\n The state has maintained a fixed subsidy for Bolivians for both diesel and gasoline, with the price per litre of the former at 3.72 bolivianos (Bs), while gasoline costs Bs 3.74 (both around US$0.54). Between 2016 and 2021, that cost of that subsidy rose from Bs 1.424 billion (more than $209 million) to Bs 4.33 billion (more than $637 billion) due to fluctuating international prices, according to data from Yacimientos Petrol\u00edferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB), the state-owned oil company, cited by local newspaper P\u00e1gina Siete<\/a>. Higher spending is expected this year due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has caused oil prices to rise.<\/p>\n Domestic gas is the cheapest in the region and utility bills cost Bolivian households between Bs 8.5 and Bs 15 (less than US$2) per month, according to YFPB<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since the discovery of gas reserves in the 1990s, the state has also encouraged the conversion of motorised vehicles to natural gas vehicles (NGV). Measures included the installation of the latest generation equipment and free services. In September 2018, the last year for which data is available, there were 400,000 NGV cars. The total Bolivian vehicle fleet is estimated to exceed 2 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energies informed Di\u00e1logo Chino via email that it expects to meet its 2025 renewable energy objectives. \u201cThe use of renewable energy as a percentage of electricity demand is expected to increase to 75%,\u201d it reaffirmed, without confirming what percentage of the 2025 energy mix its new renewables projects would account for.<\/p>\n Bolivia currently has capacity to produce 1,600 MW of electricity and, of this figure, the ministry estimates that somewhere between 30 and 57% comes from clean sources (primarily hydropower and bioenergies), depending on the seasons. \u201cWe have 15 projects with renewable energies,\u201d the ministry said, although it only provided information on 11. The other projects will remain in the pre-investment stage until the end of the administration, which coincides with the 2025 target dates, their email explains.<\/p>\nBolivia\u2019s energy transition: from talk to walk?<\/h2>\n
\nof energy produced in Bolivia uses natural gas, with renewables currently accounting for less than 6%.
\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\nLeaving gas behind<\/h2>\n
![\"natural](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2CY2DJ0-1-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Renewable energy projects\u2019 progress in Bolivia<\/h2>\n