BNamericas - Ecuador 'like the pretty girl on the block'
The business environment in the country has been improving and will continue to do so but the big challenge is financing projects to achieve sustainable grow... Ecuador is an investment opportunity in its electric power sector, according to energy specialist José Ramón Gómez. He stated that the country's energy transition is the greatest opportunity the country will have to consolidate its grid in the next decade. The challenge will be financing projects to achieve sustainable growth in the sector. GóMez suggested that the next government would promote the distribution and transmission policy of the electricity sector. He also noted that Ecuador is above the regional average in coverage but needs to bring energy particularly to areas of the Amazon, which would require investments of about US$600mn. The British ambassador to Quito, Chris Campbell, emphasized the need for Ecuador to define its plan for the energy transition, taking into account that it cannot stop oil production from one day to the next.
Published : 2 years ago by BNamericas in
Ecuador offers investment opportunities in its electric power sector and in the next decade the energy transition is the greatest opportunity that the country will have to consolidate its grid, according to an energy specialist.
“Ecuador is like the pretty girl on the block to invest in because it has demand, it has many resources – water, wind, geothermal, resources that any country would like to have,” José Ramón Gómez, energy specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Ecuador, told an innovation and energy transition forum hosted by the British Ecuadorian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Quito.
Gómez added that the business environment in the country has been improving and will continue to do so but the big challenge is financing projects to achieve sustainable growth in the sector.
To obtain financing, the country needs to speed up processes, define mechanisms to support new power purchase contracts, and facilitate investment with laws, regulations and standards, he said.
Gómez believes that in 10 years all the investments now being talked about for Ecuador’s electric power sector will be realized.
“What I see are opportunities. If I were an investor I would look at how many megawatts Ecuador needs because the demand from various sectors is there,” he said.
Gómez added that, according to statements made by president-elect Daniel Noboa, the next government will promote the distribution and transmission policy of the electricity sector.
He said Ecuador is above the regional average in coverage but needs to bring energy particularly to areas of the Amazon, which would require investments of about US$600mn.
“That is an investment opportunity,” Gómez said. “As long as there is demand for electricity, there will be an opportunity.”
At the same event, the British ambassador to Quito, Chris Campbell, spoke of the need for Ecuador to define its plan for the energy transition taking into account that it will not be able to stop oil production from one day to the next.
Ecuador and any country in the world needs flexibility and agility to change its policy, Campbell said. Education is essential for the energy transition because if the population is not convinced that it is necessary, progress cannot be made, the ambassador added.
Topics: Ecuador