Bolivia to offer excess energy to Argentina, Brazil and Chile

Bolivia will offer electrical energy to Argentina, Brazil and Chile at good prices once the hydroelectric plants of El Bala and Rositas start operation, with excess energy destined for exports, announced Vice-President Alvaro Garcia on Wednesday.

At a press conference in La Paz, Garcia said the government is seeking to export energy to its neighbors.

"We are seeking to have a greater electrical energy offering to reach a pricing and volume level that will be unbeatable for any other energy provider in Argentina, Brazil and Chile. We are in the process of generating excess energy," said the leader.

Concerning Chile, Garcia said the country needed to import gas by boat which means it could not compete with Bolivia which will have dams, leading to an offer at prices "that cannot be equalled."

He added that Argentina and Brazil, the most developed countries in the region, are also seeking to import energy from various countries.

Over the course of 2016, Bolivia moved toward regional energy integration agreements with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru with the goal of consolidating interconnections, bilateral hydroelectric projects and electrical energy exports in 2017.

On Tuesday, new Energy Minister Rafael Alarcon revealed that he would seek to complete President Evo Morales' vision of Bolivia becoming South America's energy center.

Alarcon said that, upon taking office this week, he was told that "the main challenge is to consolidate electrical earnings as a new source of revenue for the state" and to substitute the use of natural gas with hydroelectricity and other renewable sources.

In the short-term, the minister must also finalized a contract with Argentina to begin exporting electricity to that country.

These goals rely on the development and operation of a number of generation projects, such as Rositas, El Bala, Carrizal and Misicuni.

Besides, Bolivia and Brazil are working on consolidating hydroelectric projects, including a feasibility study at the Rio Madera plant and researches on other potential sites along the border.

The objective of the bilateral technical committee is to allow the generation and exportation of around 8,000 MW of electricity a year to Brazil.

Concerning Buenos Aires, Bolivia has delivered a proposal electricity export contract, with an initial proposal to export around 1,000 MW from Yaguacua in Bolivia to San Juancito in Argentina.

With Peru, during a recent summit, the two countries committed to carrying out studies toward building electrical interconnection infrastructure.

For Paraguay, three agreements were signed in 2016, covering joint studies on electrical interconnection, technical exchanges for solar power generation, and exchanges about international electricity exchanges. Enditem