Challenges and opportunities of the integration of renewable energies in Latin America

Motivated by more responsible and environmentally friendly electricity production, governments worldwide have enacted legislation to increase electricity generation through renewable energies. However, integrating renewable energies into existing power grids presents significant challenges in the operation of electrical systems because their intermittent, stochastic, and non-dispatchable nature creates imbalances between the energy supplied and demanded, affecting all agents in the system. One way to address the challenge of variability and uncertainty is through operating reserves. However, the reserve requirements increase as the amount of renewable energy used grows, which may be economically infeasible. In this way, achieving ambitious energy penetration objectives will require implementing innovative planning, operation, and control strategies for electrical systems, which will be discussed in this panel.