South America |
Powering South America’s future
Climate change, investment, assessment and AI are all featured in this South American report by IWP&DC.
Below: The 10,200MW Guri Dam in southern Venezuela. In recent years, the International Hydropower Association says the country’s hydropower sector has struggled with declining capacity due to economic challenges and structural neglect of key infrastructure. Recent efforts have been focused on restoring existing facilities which are often backed by development banks
HYDROPOWER HAS BEEN CALLED the backbone of the South American energy system and is vital for the region’s energy mix. Due to its natural Andean-Amazon resources it has vast potential for generation, and even with only 30% of the region’s hydropower currently exploited, the International Hydropower Association says this is still satisfying 45% of the continent’s electricity demand. According to the IHA’s 2025 World Hydropower Outlook, with a total installed capacity of 183GW, South America generated 725TWh of hydropower in 2024. Although 306MW of capacity was added during this period, the IHA admits the overall rate of hydropower development in South America ‘has plateaued’. It cites various problems such as falling investor confidence in Colombia due to a clash between the government and hydropower companies over alleged pricing and profit concerns, while in Argentina, Peru and Chile, political volatility and policy shifts have created uncertainty. Climate change is also posing major risks. El Nino
intensified droughts impacted hydropower generation during 2024-5 and governments across the region are now seeking to diversify energy sources and improve water management.
As Avila-Diaz et al acknowledge in the International Journal of Climatology, South America is particularly vulnerable to climate-related challenges. These not only include extreme rainfall events and droughts, but also glacier melting, rising sea levels and heatwaves – all of which threaten key sectors such as agriculture and hydropower production. Studying 27 hydrological basins across South America, they claim their research offers critical insight for water resource management, agriculture and energy planning across the region. The highest concentration of hydroelectric dams in South America are located in the northeast, southeast, and southern Brazil, as well as western Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and northern Venezuela. Intensification of extreme rainfall events projected for several of these basins could increase hydrological variability and infrastructure vulnerability, requiring adaptive management strategies to balance generation efficiency and risk reduction. In contrast, areas such as the west coast of South America and southern Brazil, may face challenges due to less stable moisture transport, potentially affecting hydroelectric power generation capacity and long-term water resource reliability.
12 | April 2026 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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