The Latin American and Caribbean Organization of Energy (OLACDE) presented the Energy Outlook of Latin America and the Caribbean 2025, its annual flagship publication that brings together the most relevant official statistics of the energy sector across its 27 member countries and analyzes the main trends, challenges, and projections of the region’s energy transition.
The report confirms that Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is steadily moving toward a cleaner energy mix, in which renewable energy continues to expand, natural gas is consolidating as the main firm energy source underpinning its growth, and electric mobility is posting unprecedented expansion.
20 key milestones in the energy sector of Latin America and the Caribbean
2025 Results
1. In 2025, renewable generation capacity increased by 7% compared to 2024.
2. 68% of the new installed capacity in 2025 was renewable, and 67% of electricity comes from clean sources.
3. 61% of the new generation capacity installed in 2025 consists of wind and solar power plants.
4. Wind and solar power generation in 2025 increased by 19% compared to 2024.
5. Final electricity consumption in 2025 is 3.7% higher than in 2024; and per capita consumption increased by 2.6%.
6. In LAC, sales of electrified light vehicles continue to grow strongly, mainly over the last three years, which has meant that the number of such vehicles in circulation increased by 851% between 2022 and 2025 — that is, it grew almost tenfold. Through October 2025, compared to 2024, sales of light vehicles in the region increased by 52%.
7. As of 2025, LAC has a battery energy storage capacity of 1.7 GW.
8. Natural gas generation capacity increased by 12% compared to the previous year.
9. In 2025, electricity generation from mineral coal decreased by 21%, and from oil and its derivatives by 31%.
10. Crude oil production in LAC in 2025 increased by 20% compared to the previous year, the region’s domestic demand by 24%, and net exports by 13%.
Projections to 2050 under an accelerated decarbonization scenario (NET-0)
11. Under an accelerated decarbonization scenario for the LAC energy sector (NET-0) to 2050, total energy consumption would increase by 42% compared to 2025, while electricity consumption would grow by 156%, meaning it would nearly triple.
12. Under this same scenario, while the renewability index of final consumption is 31% in 2025, this indicator would reach 48% by 2050.
13. Installed electricity generation capacity would triple by 2050 compared to 2025, and its renewable component would rise from 68% in 2025 to 83% in 2050. Combined wind and solar capacity would grow fivefold.
14. Approximately 1,000 additional GW of electricity generation capacity will be required, backed by 80 GW of battery storage, with an estimated total expansion cost of around 1,500 billion dollars, of which 90% would correspond to renewable capacity.
15. Electricity generation would triple by 2050 compared to 2025, and its renewable share would rise from 67% in 2025 to 76% in 2050. By that year, wind and solar combined would account for 37% of total generation. Natural gas would account for 22% of total electricity generation.
16. Under the assumptions of the NET-0 scenario, electricity consumption in the transportation sector in LAC would come to represent, by 2050, close to 10% of that sector’s total energy consumption, 3% of the region’s total final energy consumption, and 9% of the region’s total electricity consumption.
17. With the expansion of data centers in LAC, the electricity consumption of these facilities would represent, by 2050, 40% of the total electricity consumed by the commercial and services sector, a third of that sector’s total energy consumption, 10% of the region’s total electricity consumption, and 4% of the region’s total final energy consumption that year.
18. The electricity requirements for green hydrogen production in LAC, both for domestic consumption and for export, considered under the NET-0 scenario for 2050, would be on the order of 12% of the region’s total electricity generation and 4% of the region’s total energy supply in that year.
19. Of LAC’s total energy supply by 2050, natural gas would contribute 34%, compared to 26% in 2025, while the share of non-conventional renewable energy sources would increase from the current 5% to 14% in 2050.
20. By 2050, oil and its derivatives would account for 20% of the region’s total energy supply, and the share of mineral coal would be only 1%.
The Energy Outlook of Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 stands as a key tool for decision-making, offering solid evidence on the direction of the region’s energy transition and the technical, economic, and investment challenges that will need to be addressed in the coming decades.
Download the Energy Outlook of Latin America and the Caribbean 2025: https://www.olacde.org/publicaciones/panorama-energetico-de-america-latina-y-el-caribe-2025/
Watch the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3gX9OTMuSY
