The 11th Energy Week dedicated a session to energy planning and its growing importance in guiding investments, strengthening energy supply security, and addressing increasingly complex energy systems. The discussion highlighted the need to strengthen national capacities, incorporate climate-related and technological risks, and improve coordination among planning, regulation, infrastructure, and the private sector.
The expansion of renewable energy, the electrification of demand, extreme weather events, and the rapid pace of technological change require planning under conditions of greater uncertainty. Participants agreed that the goal is not to predict a single future, but rather to establish institutions, teams, and tools capable of assessing alternatives, managing risks, and adapting decisions as conditions evolve. Institutional continuity and the development of in-house capacities emerged as essential conditions for sustaining these processes over time.
Ángela González, from the National Energy Commission of the Dominican Republic, presented the country’s experience, where energy planning has been mandated by law since 2001. “The most important thing is to develop an energy plan that serves not only the government but also the entire private sector,” she stated, emphasizing the need to anticipate emerging demands on the energy system and provide greater investment predictability.
Guido Maiulini, Head of Strategic Advisory at OLACDE and moderator of the panel, emphasized that long-term planning is essential to addressing challenges related to regional integration, the energy transition, infrastructure, energy security, and resilience. In this context, he highlighted the establishment of OLACDE’s Regional Energy Planning Council in 2024 as a platform to strengthen capacities, promote knowledge exchange among countries, and develop a long-term regional vision. He also underscored that more robust energy planning is crucial for improving decision-making, mobilizing investments, and aligning the energy agenda with the development priorities of Latin America and the Caribbean.
For her part, Marina Gil Sevilla, from ECLAC / GET.Transform, noted that more than 85% of Latin American and Caribbean countries already have some form of long-term energy planning instrument, although planning teams tend to be small and the process is established by law in only four countries. She also highlighted ongoing efforts to incorporate climate risks into electricity planning and strengthen governments’ technical capacities.
Along the same lines, Ilse Berdellians, from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), emphasized that “countries must take ownership of their planning processes.” External assistance can provide tools and expertise, she explained, but long-term continuity depends on permanent national capacities and the involvement of universities, experts, and various institutions in training future energy planners.
Martha Carvalho, from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), emphasized the importance of adaptive planning: “It is not about predicting the future with absolute accuracy, but rather about having tools that enable better investment decisions under different scenarios and allow those decisions to be adjusted as technological, economic, climate-related, or regulatory conditions change.”
From FGV Energia, Heloisa Borges Bastos Esteves stated that “planning does not mean eliminating uncertainty, but rather making it explicit.” To achieve this, she emphasized the need to understand which risks are being taken, which can be accepted, and which need to be mitigated.
Meanwhile, Ricardo Gorini, from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), emphasized that “planning must help identify and mitigate risks to mobilize private investment,” while governments guide decisions toward energy security, development, competitiveness, and climate goals.
Finally, Gustavo Naciff de Andrade, Advisor to the Presidency of Brazil’s Energy Research Office (EPE), stated that “planning must serve as an enabler of investment,” providing information, scenarios, and signals to guide public and private decision-making. He also highlighted the need for strong coordination among energy planning, regulation, and energy policy within government institutions.
The discussion highlighted a key point of consensus: robust energy planning does not eliminate uncertainty, but it enables stakeholders to anticipate it, manage risks more effectively, and make better-informed investment and energy policy decisions with greater continuity and adaptability.
