Nicaragua Creeps Ahead With Pricey ALBA Oil Project

Just months after pledging to build a long-dreamed-about “Nicaragua Canal,” the government of President Daniel Ortega is now turning its attention to another dizzyingly expensive megaproject: a Venezuelan-backed oil pipeline and refinery scheme dubbed the “Supremo Sueño de Bolivar,” Bolivar’s Supreme Dream.

Clean Energy ‘Revolution’ In Nicaragua

Wind turbine in Nicaragua (Flickr/Nyall & Maryanne)

A spate of new power projects, surging foreign investment and a welcome dose of positive press coverage are helping transform Nicaragua’s go-getter energy goals from pipe dream to reality.

Chile: Piñera Govt Approves Controversial Dam Project, Unleashes Flood Of Popular Outrage

Patagonia's Baker River (Photo by Benjamin Witte)

Flip-flop rulings have left the fate of the controversial HidroAysén venture, a multi-billion-dollar dam scheme slated for southern Chile’s Patagonia region, very much up in the air. The recent roller coaster events have made one thing clear: in Chile, energy matters – once the exclusive domain of private utilities companies – are now becoming everyone’s business.

Chile’s Billion-Dollar President Loses His Midas Touch

Sophomore slump continues for President Pinera (Credit - Globovision/Flickr)

Chilean President Sebastián Piñera hit something of a political homerun last year when he delivered an ambitious – and unexpectedly centrist – *May 21 state of the nation address that left his would-be critics in the reeling Concertación coalition with surprisingly little to say.

Assessing South America’s Atomic Energy Future After Fukushima

Argentina's Embalse Nuclear Plant (Credit - Lucas/Flickr)

The recent nuclear disaster in Japan’s tsunami-damaged Fukushima reactor has shaken – but not buried – plans for an atomic energy surge in South America, which right now has just four of the world’s 442 nuclear power plants.

Wind Power Makes Modest Gains In Chile

Wind farms starting to pop up in northern Chile (credit - slimmerjimmer/flickr)

Little by little, Chile is plugging wind power into its otherwise conventional electricity grid. So far, however, the sector’s contribution to the overall electricity supply remains minimal, leading some analysts to question whether the country’s private energy providers are really ready to welcome the proverbial winds of change.

Up In Smoke: Talk Of Green Energy Fades As Chile Approves Two Major Coal Projects

Coal plants, a conventional power source (Dan OConner/Flickr)

Promises by President Sebastián Piñera to give Chile’s electricity matrix a green makeover went up in proverbial smoke last month when authorities approved a pair of costly coal projects: one, an open-pit mine in the far south; the other, a massive coal-burning power plant slated for the northern Atacama region.

Plan To Raise Natural Gas Prices Meets Fierce Resistance In Chile’s Magallanes Region

Residents in southern Patagonia fight government proposal with a general strike (Marianne Klock)

It may be  just a small slice of the country’s overall energy pie, but  Chile’s Patagonia-based natural gas industry is causing big political problems for first-year President Sebastián Piñera, a billionaire capitalist who is finding out the hard way that dictating energy policy is anything but business as usual.

In Push To Power Up, Nicaragua Leans Green

The Amayo wind farm in Rivas, Nicaragua

After long lagging behind its Central American neighbors in terms of both electricity production and connectivity, Nicaragua, the largest country in the isthmus, is counting on ambitious – and green-oriented – expansion plans to leapfrog into a position of regional leadership.

Chile Cautiously Embracing Nuclear Option

Chile could eventually add nuclear power plants to its energy matrix

A revealing visit to France last October by President Sebastián Piñera has reignited a long smoldering debate in Chile over the so-called “nuclear option.”

Careful not to endorse the possibility outright, the Chilean leader nevertheless make it clear during an Oct. 20 stopover in Paris that with the benefit of some French knowhow, nuclear power plants may eventually be in the cards for Chile.