The expansion of transmission: the challenges faced in South America

Abstract

Transmission system expansion boomed in several South American countries in the 2000s and the early 2010s. Network capacity additions were required to cope with fast-growing electricity demand, prompted by average gross domestic product growth rates of around 5 per year in 2003?2008 and 3 per year in 2008-2013. Following a trend verified in most infrastructure segments, private sector participation in transmission investments increased significantly in the period, which was the result of reforms in the electricity industry that had initiated in the 1990s.