Land grabs, climate change, murder plague Latin America’s hydropower grid

Water power assets attract huge foreign interest, protests, violence at home

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Itaipú Dam, on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world. Photo: AHLN/flickr.

(Michael Molinski is a senior economist at Trendline Economics. He’s worked for Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo, and previously as a foreign correspondent and editor for Bloomberg News and MarketWatch.) 

QUITO, Ecuador (Callaway Climate Insights) — Latin America has the largest share of hydroelectricity use in the world, and that may hold the key to solving the region’s climate change problems. But much of that hydropower is plagued by foreign control issues, corruption, land grabs, protests and even murder.

Latin America's electricity supply in 2023 came from 43% hydropower, much higher than the global average of 16%. In Panama, Ecuador, and Paraguay, hydropower accounts for over 70% of electricity generation thanks to the region’s vast network of rivers.

That has led to renewed interest from abroad in Latin America’s hydroelectric system as China, Canada, Europe, Russia and the United States all try to grab a slice of this growing infrastructure pie.