China Stakes Its Claim in Latin American Energy:

China-Latin America: A big push in renewable energy and electric power transmission China’s use of energy has evolved throughout the trajectory of its modern economic development. In the case of fossil fuels, China has been a price taker and technology follower. In modern renewable energy, however, it is poised to play a leading role with the help of government-supported innovation. The Asian country’s record on energy is undeniably mixed: It is the world’s largest consumer of coal and imported oil, but it is also the world’s largest consumer and producer of renewable energy technologies. Internationally, it invests in, finances and owns hydrocarbon and electric power assets, renewable energy projects and critical minerals. China’s growing presence in LAC energy markets is a clear challenge to the U.S. More than 15% of its $58.4 billion in LAC energy outlays from 2000-2019 went to renewables, according to China’s Global Energy Finance database at Boston University.

electric: LAC is an expanding market for Chinese-made solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles. Over the last decades, China has emerged as the leading global actor in key renewable energy sectors: It has become the world’s largest producer, exporter and installer of solar (photovoltaic or PV) panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles. 7 As an international price war raged among solar cell manufacturers, Chinese solar panel producers struggled with stiff antidumping tariffs in Europe and the U.S., their chief foreign markets. Wind tower manufacturers also faced high tariffs. But Chinese manufacturers found that new markets – free of antidumping tariffs - were open in LAC for all the materials used in both solar and wind projects. Although many of the solar and wind project developers winning auctions in Latin America have been Europeans, all are using low-cost Chinese equipment. By doing so, they can offer highly competitive prices for power purchase agreements (PPAs). Chinese companies supply equipment and Chinese banks provide funding. Even in countries with high currency risks, such as Argentina and Colombia, the CDB provided project finance.

While Beijing clearly does not depend on LAC as a key source of oil, its interest in renewable energy projects is

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