Can You Guess Which South American Country Has One of the World’s Cleanest Grids?

Uruguay has revolutionised its energy system, and now the South American country has one of the cleanest grids in the world, relying on renewable energy sources and reducing its reliance on imported oil for electricity.

“Uruguay did exactly what Kenya and Iceland did in response to oil price shocks: it found a secure, clean and domestically available source of electricity,” states Dr. Sugandha Srivastav, a lecturer in Environmental Economics and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford.

In 2007, Uruguay received a $1 million grant from the Global Environment Facility and contributed $6 million of its own to fund a new “Uruguay Wind Energy Program.” Then in 2009, the country ran auctions in which wind companies competed to offer the cheapest renewable energy. Uruguay managed to cut its reliance on imported oil, from 50% in 2008 to 9% today. One-third of Uruguay’s electricity is from wind power, and two-fifths is from hydropower. Next, Uruguay will move into solar energy, followed by grid-scale batteries, as costs have declined dramatically. To further reduce its dependence on imported oil, Uruguay plans on electrifying transport.