Latin America’s energy infrastructure highly sensitive to climate change – report
Image: OLADE
Increasing the resilience of Latin America’s energy infrastructure is important to manage the effects of climate change, a new study from the Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE) indicates.
The report, produced in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Tecnalia Foundation, finds that the sensitivity and vulnerability of infrastructures vary depending on the type of technology and its geographic location.
For example for transmission lines, above a threshold of 20oC, if the temperature rises by 1oC, the analysis indicates a 0.4% drop in the energy transported.
If the average wind speed increases by 1m/s, the transmission capacity increases by 20%.
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Similar changes occur for other infrastructure,
For solar PV above a threshold of 25oC a 1oC increase in temperature is calculated to lead to a 0.66% drop in PV output, while combined cycle plants above a threshold of 15oC can see a 0.25% drop in their effective capacity.
For gas transmission increases in temperature can compromise the integrity of pipes, reduce the transmission capacity and lead to safety problems if compression stations are not suitable for high temperatures.
For wind generation, a drop or increase of 1m/s in the average wind speed is calculated to lead to a respective drop or increase in the output by 6.67%, while with increasing sustained wind speeds above 80km/h the probability of damage escalates rapidly.
The report concludes that while energy facilities are designed to maintain their integrity during their useful lifetime and operate efficiently according to the climatic conditions of their location, climate change can drastically alter these conditions and impact both their physical integrity and productivity.
Thus a climate risk assessment methodology for evaluating the risks inherent therein should be included in the design studies and in the planning of operation.
Even for facilities that are already contracted and in operation, it is important to evaluate their vulnerability to potential impacts of climate change and to identify in advance possible adaptation measures that will increase their resilience to such impacts.
Such measures could include the use of more heat resistant transmission lines and other technologies, land use management to reduce erosion and the implementation of improved prediction systems for extreme weather events.
This latter is particularly important given the Latin American region’s energy matrix is heavily dependent on direct energy sources such as hydropower.
