Honduras and the Latin American and Caribbean Energy Organization (OLACDE) strengthened their strategic cooperation through a roadmap aimed at boosting energy planning, promoting regional integration, and consolidating the country’s energy security amid an increasingly challenging international landscape.
During an official meeting, the President of Honduras, Nasry Asfura, and OLACDE’s Executive Secretary, Andrés Rebolledo, agreed on a joint agenda focused on national energy planning, the integration of energy markets, the electrification of the economy, and the strengthening of human talent through the training and specialization programs OLACDE promotes across Latin America and the Caribbean.
As part of this agenda, OLACDE will provide technical support for the development of Honduras’s first National Energy Policy, a milestone that will give the country, for the first time, a long-term strategic vision to guide the development of the sector. Following the official exchange of notes, both parties began work on drafting the policy and securing support for its implementation. The European Union, through GET.transform, is backing the initiative. The policy will be developed through a participatory process involving assessments and consultations across the country, structured around 16 thematic pillars ranging from hydrocarbons, natural gas, and renewable energy to electric mobility, governance, and social responsibility. Its goal will be to establish a roadmap that aligns the efforts of the energy sector and turns it into an engine of sustainable, competitive, and inclusive development for Honduras.
The agreement takes on special significance amid growing uncertainty in the global energy system, marked by market volatility, rising electricity demand, competition for critical minerals and emerging technologies, and the need to build more resilient energy systems. Against this backdrop, Honduras and OLACDE reaffirmed that long-term energy planning and regional cooperation are pillars for strengthening energy security, attracting investment, and improving the country’s competitiveness.
Energy integration, the region’s great challenge
Energy integration was one of the central themes of the meeting. Honduras and OLACDE agreed that strengthening interconnection between countries will make it possible to use available energy resources more efficiently, complement generation capacities, improve the reliability of electricity systems, and expand access to secure, competitive, and sustainable energy for all the people of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Electrification is a key tool for achieving this integration goal. Latin America and the Caribbean has an exceptional strategic advantage: nearly 70% of its electricity generation comes from renewable sources, making it one of the cleanest energy matrices in the world. Harnessing this potential through greater integration will make it possible to optimize the use of existing infrastructure, incorporate new renewable sources, increase the efficiency of electricity systems, and ensure a more reliable and accessible supply for every country in the region.
Training to lead the energy transition
As part of his official visit, OLACDE’s Executive Secretary, Andrés Rebolledo, met with authorities from the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) to strengthen academic cooperation and the development of regional training programs aimed at preparing the human talent the energy transition demands. During the visit, the delegation also toured the university’s Renewable Energy Laboratory, where they learned about the technical and research capabilities that support the training of new professionals in the sector.
This activity took place under the ETRELA project, funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUKN), and implemented by a consortium made up of OLACDE, Renewables Academy (RENAC), Global Factor, and the universities benefiting from the project.
Through the CAPEVLAC initiative, OLACDE has established itself as one of the leading centers for specialized energy training in Latin America and the Caribbean. Each year, thousands of professionals from governments, companies, universities, and public institutions strengthen their capacities through courses, diploma programs, master’s degrees, and executive programs in areas such as energy planning, regional integration, artificial intelligence applied to the sector, energy transition, gender and energy, energy efficiency, hydrogen, storage, regulation, geopolitics, and electromobility.
A shared vision for the energy future
The official visit reaffirms the shared vision of Honduras and OLACDE to move toward an energy model based on cooperation, integration, and long-term planning. With abundant renewable resources, one of the cleanest electricity matrices in the world, and growing potential to develop new value chains in sectors such as hydrogen, biofuels, and energy storage, Latin America and the Caribbean has the conditions to establish itself as one of the leading energy hubs of the 21st century.
The meeting between President Nasry Asfura and Executive Secretary Andrés Rebolledo strengthens Honduras’s commitment to regional energy integration and lays the groundwork for a cooperation agenda that will drive energy security, competitiveness, and sustainable development for the country and for Latin America and the Caribbean.
