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Investment Opportunities in Uruguay
Renewable Energy in
Power Generation
URUGUAY XXI – INVESTMENT AND EXPORT PROMOTION AGENCY
November 2009
Renewable
Energy in
Electric
Power
Generation
RENEWABLE ENERGY IN ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION
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INDEX
1. WHY INVEST IN THE URUGUAYAN ENERGY INDUSTRY? .................................................................... 2
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE URUGUAYAN ELECTRIC GENERATION INDUSTRY .................................................. 3
2.1. THE URUGUAYAN ELECTRIC SYSTEM............................................................................................... 4
2.2. SHARE OF HYDRO GENERATION ..................................................................................................... 5
2.3. SALES OF ELECTRIC POWER PER CLIENT TYPE IN 2008 ....................................................................... 5
3. WHY INVEST IN RENEWABLE ENERGY IN URUGUAY? ....................................................................... 6
3.1. RISING DEMAND......................................................................................................................... 6
3.2. VERY GOOD AVAILABILITY OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES ........................................................... 6
3.3. URUGUAY WIND MAP ................................................................................................................. 7
3.4. FAVORABLE TAX FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................... 8
4. OVERVIEW OF THE DOMESTIC AND REGIONAL SUPPLY...................................................................... 8
5. GOVERNMENT POLICY ............................................................................................................. 9
6. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................... 9
7. TENDERS IN PROCESS AND STRUCTURE OF THE CONTRACTS ............................................................. 10
8. CURRENT PANORAMA OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN URUGUAY: .......................................................... 11
8.1. IN OPERATION, CONTRIBUTING TO THE ELECTRIC NETWORK .............................................................11
8.1.1. WIND ENERGY ..................................................................................................................11
8.1.2. BIOMASS .........................................................................................................................11
8.2. RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS WITH AUTHORIZATION TO GENERATE ................................................11
8.2.1. SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC .......................................................................................................11
8.2.2. WIND .............................................................................................................................12
8.2.3. BIOMASS .........................................................................................................................12
9. CASE STUDIES ...................................................................................................................... 12
9.1. BOTNIA URUGUAY ....................................................................................................................12
9.2. FENIROL S.A. ...........................................................................................................................13
10. ANNEX ............................................................................................................................ 14
10.1. MAIN BODIES AND AGENCIES LINKED TO THIS SUBJECT ..................................................................14
10.2. INSTALLED POWER OWNED BY THE URUGUAYAN PUBLIC INDUSTRY .................................................15
10.3. OTHER FACTORS TO CONSIDER ..................................................................................................15
INVESTOR SERVICES ................................................................................................................. 18
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1. WHY INVEST IN THE URUGUAYAN ENERGY INDUSTRY?
Uruguay is a serious and reliable country, part of a large regional market
In Uruguay, foreign investors receive the same treatment as local
investors. Funds may be freely transferred and profits may be
repatriated.
Uruguay belongs to Mercosur, a market of over 240 million inhabitants and a GDP of US$ 1,950 billion.
High economic growth in the last few years, but stagnancy of the generation capacity
The high growth in electric energy demand, as a consequence of high GDP growth rates, the
absence of native fossil resources and the scarce margin to incorporate additional
hydroelectric generation, led the Government to propose development policies from
nontraditional local renewable sources.
Abundance of renewable energy resources
Uruguay has vast wind and biomass resources, the latter related to the strength of its
agricultural, livestock and forestry industries. There already are several successful cases of
wind farms and forestry industries that use the waste the produce for the generation of
energy, instead of causing environmental problems.
Uruguay has a highly attractive investment promotion and export system
In 2007, Uruguay adopted an investment promotion system
that allows companies to use up to 100% of investments as
income tax payments under certain conditions.
There is also a specific incentives regime for the renewable energy industry.
The Uruguayan energy industry is attracting major foreign investments
There already are several cases of transnational corporations investing in renewable energy in Uruguay, both in the generation of electricity as well as in biofuels. The tender of 150 MW of wind energy is particularly capturing the interest of companies from all over the world.
These investments are being made in a context where foreign direct investment in Uruguay
has risen 11 times over since 2002 to account for 6.8% of GDP in 2008.
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2. DESCRIPTION OF THE URUGUAYAN ELECTRIC GENERATION INDUSTRY
In Uruguay, there exists freedom of generation
of electricity. As of October 2009 the distribution
of the electricity generation park is 7.8% private
and 92.2% public (this is, including the plants of
the state-owned utility UTE and of the
Uruguayan-Argentinean binational dam Salto
Grande).
Strong economic growth in the last few years, in
a context of several years of severe droughts and
the subsequent reduction of the hydroelectric
generation, led to the implementation of
consumption restrictions (though without power
cuts). Therefore, there is a strong impulse to
improve the generation backup, both with thermal units and renewable energy.
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2.1. THE URU GUA YAN E LEC TRIC SY STEM
Source: UTE.
The detail of the Uruguayan Government generation park at the end of 2008 is presented in
the appendix.
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2.2. SHA RE OF H YD RO GENERATION
The graph above shows the strong participation of hydro generation in the current decade.
The significant droughts of 2006 and 2008 explain the high share of thermal generation in
those years. However, growing demand for energy and the scarce or null margin to increase
hydro generation determine the need to extend and diversify the generation park.
2.3. SA LE S OF E LEC TRIC POWE R PE R C L IENT TYPE IN 2008
Large consumers represent a large amount of UTE’s sales.1 These will enable relatively few
contracts of energy sale by private operators that will cover good part of the demand.
1 Note: In order to be considered a large consumer, the client shall contract a normal and peak power equal to
or greater than 200 KW and shall consume on average a monthly minimum of 90,000 KWh.
93.4%99.8% 99.7% 99.9%
81.6%87.5%
64.6%
86.7%
56.1%
38.5%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Jan-Jul 2009
Share of hydro generation
Source: Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining.
Residential40.4%
Large29.9%
Medium15.7%
Others14.0%
Sales of electric power per client type in 2008
Source: Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining.
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The high participation of electric water heaters in households, which exceeds 90%, has been
highlighted as an interesting opportunity for the use of solar thermal energy. Due to the
energy saving measures implemented by the Government in the last few years, it is being
considered the possibility of offering incentives to important housing developments if they
use this type of energy to heat water.
3. WHY INVEST IN RENEWAB LE ENERGY IN URUGUAY?
3.1. Rising demand
Several factors explain this growth. These include the strong expansion of economy, with
average GDP growth of 6.7% in 2004-2008; strong investments in productive capacity;
improvements in real incomes of families and the incorporation of several electrical
appliances into the consumption pattern of the Uruguayan population, fostered by a plan
carried out by the public company UTE, which facilitated the access to some electrical
appliances by means of soft loans.
3.2. VE RY GOOD AVA ILA BILITY OF RE NEWA BLE E NERGY RESOU RCE S
As seen on the wind map, Uruguay has competitive advantages in wind availability.
Additionally, the greatest availability of winds can be found near the largest towns, in the
South of the country.
0.1%
4.9%
1.5%
0.4%
8.4%
0.3%0.8%
5.0%
7.5%
4.6%
7.6%
8.9%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP and electricity consumption growth
Consumption growth GDP growth
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3.3. URUGU AY W IND MAP
Sources: www.dnetn.gub.uy and www.energiaeolica.gub.uy
It should be highlighted that the plant factors of the wind farm “Sierra de los Caracoles” are
48% and 40.8%, gross and net respectively, figures that exceed the average of these
ventures in other countries, which seldom exceed 30%.
Uruguay also has extensive biomass resources, derived from the strength of its agricultural,
livestock and forestry industries. Several products, such as rice, other cereals and soybean
increasingly complement traditional livestock, the main export item. There already are
several successful cases of the utilization of the waste of those activities and forestry to
generate power, thus avoiding the environmental issues associated with them.
The artificial forest area represents 4.2% of Uruguay’s total area, with more than 700,000
afforested hectares.
Average annual speed
Height: 90m
Speed (m/s)
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3.4. FAV ORA BLE TAX FRAMEW O RK
Law 16,906 (dated 7 January 1998) declares
that the promotion and protection of domestic
and foreign investment is of national interest.
Decree 455/007 updated the regulations of this
law. Investment projects in any industry that
are submitted and promoted by the Executive
Branch may use between 51% and 100% the
amount invested as partial payment of
corporate income tax, according to project
classification. The normal corporate tax rate is
25%.
In addition, moveable fixed assets and civil works are exempt from wealth tax and VAT can
be recovered for purchases of materials and services for the latter.
Likewise, the law exempts import taxes and charges for movable fixed assets declared non-
competitive to domestic industry.
There is also a tax incentives regime specific for the renewable energy industry, according to
Decree 354/009. This includes an IRAE exemption when electric power is sold in the forward
contracts market, according to the following timetable:
90% of the income, between 1/07/2009 and 31/12/2017
60% of the income, between 1/01/2018 and 31/12/2020
40% of the income, between 01/01/2021 and 31/12/2023
4. OVERVIEW OF THE DOMESTIC AND REGIONAL SUPPLY
Reduced investments in generation in the last decades, together with similar scenarios in
Argentina, have determined a complex panorama in the face of rising demand for the
aforementioned factors. Uruguay has a 2,000 MW power interconnection with Argentina,
while with Brazil the same is currently of only 70 MW, though there is a project in progress
to expand the interconnection to 500 MW.
The Uruguayan and Argentinean governments had the need to restrict the demand in the
last few years. Even though Uruguay did not apply any power cut scheme as Argentina did,
there were savings programs of different magnitude. In a context of constrained supply, the
imports came from machines operating at high costs.
In order to avoid the implementation of future restrictions, the Uruguayan Government has
invested heavily in generation, incorporating different machines gasoil and fuel oil engines. It
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has also carried out tenders (and is still doing so) for private companies to incorporate
renewable energy to the national generation matrix.
Due to the energy situation in Argentina, there is also potential for private generators based
in Uruguay to export to such market, paying transmission tolls to UTE.
5. GOVERNMENT POLICY
Greater participation of the private industry in the generation of electric power.
Streamlining of the regulatory framework by means of the creation of independent bodies for such functions.
Specific tax exemptions for the industry.
Incorporation of 500 MW in renewable energy (300 MW of wind energy and 200 MW of biomass) by 2015.2
Project of an LNG regasification plant, jointly with Argentina.
The thermal backup was improved in the last years, with 300 MW already in place, and the ongoing incorporation of an additional 80 MW.
Expansion of the interconnection with Brazil: an additional 500 MW.3
Improvement of energy efficiency at all levels.
6. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Law 16,832 –Electricity Regulatory Framework– was approved in September 1997 and
ratified by the citizenship in a referendum in year 1998.
The main modifications that this law brought about were:
It established the free generation of energy generation, enabling the entry of private players.
Creation of an electric power wholesale market.
Trade liberalization with the region. For instance, contracts between generators and users from Uruguay and Argentina are allowed.
State-owned power utility UTE is allowed to partner with other companies.
2 Source: http://www.presidencia.gub.uy/_web/decretos/2009/08/931.pdf
3 Source: http://www.ute.com.uy/novedades/Ref_39519/INDICEN.doc
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The regulatory and productive functions of the State are split; agencies with specific duties are created.
7. TENDERS IN PROCESS AN D STRUCTURE OF THE CONTRACTS
In the next few months, state-owned utility UTE will open a tender for 150 MW of wind energy exclusively.
Conditions of the generation contracts between the electricity public company UTE and private operators:
In the last tender for non-traditional renewable energy the agreed price per MW was US$ 90.25, but it is worth noting that currently the least expensive electric generation machine (fuel oil, with the barrel at US$ 70) operates at US$ 104 per MW and the most expensive (gas oil) operates at US$ 187.
Such price is 48% fixed and 52% indexed to the wholesale prices of Uruguay and USA and the Libor rate in US$ for 180 days.
In particular, the following is stipulated for the tender of 150 MW of wind energy by the end
of 2009:
Contracts with UTE are for a period of no more than 20 years.
There is a requirement for previous experience, which in practice necessitates the incorporation of foreign operators with experience in generation to the groups presenting to the tender.
The tender will also establish the requirement of at least 20% of the total investment corresponds to national components, excluding the connection to the network.
According to Decree 403/009 companies can contract wind generators of a power between 30 MW and 50 MW.
It is worth noting that Uruguay’s investment promotion agency Uruguay XXI offers to foreign
investors a match-making service with potential local partners and suppliers, in order to
facilitate investment.
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8. CURRENT PANORAMA OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN URUGUAY:
There are several projects of electricity generation from renewable sources, some of them already in operation and others already with authorization to generate by the Energy Directorate (Source: Administration of the Electric Market, ADME for its Spanish acronyms).
8.1. IN OPE RATION , CONTRIBU TING TO THE E LE CTRIC NE TW ORK
8.1.1. Wind energy
Name Investor’s Origin Investor Authorized Power (MW)
Caracoles 1 Uruguay UTE (State) 10
Nuevo Manantial 1 Argentina Bulgheroni Group 10
Agroland Argentina Bulgheroni Group 0.3
Total 20.3
8.1.2. Biomass
Name Investor’s Origin Investor Authorized Power (MW)
Botnia Uruguay Finland UPM-Kymmene Oyj 161
Fenirol Uruguay-Greece Consortium of groups of
investors 10
Las Rosas Uruguay Consortium Aborgama-Ducelit, Municipality of
Maldonado, UTE and UNDP 1
Total
172
8.2. RENEW A BLE ENE RGY PROJE CTS W ITH AU TH OR IZATION TO GENE RA TE
8.2.1. Solar photovoltaic
Name Investor’s Origin Investor Authorized Power (MW)
UTE Uruguay UTE 0.3
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8.2.2. Wind
Investor Investor’s Origin Authorized Power (MW)
Sowitec Germany 8
Sowitec Germany 9
Sowitec Germany 9
Sowitec Germany 8
Sowitec Germany 9
Innovent Germany 29.7
Innovent Germany 60
Innovent Germany 110.4
Castillos Wind Farm Germany 141
Generación Eólica Minas S.A Germany 66
8.2.3. Biomass
Name Investor’s origin Investor Authorized Power (MW)
Liderdat Uruguay Azucarlito Group 5
Galofer Uruguay-Brazil Consortium of 5 rice mills 14
Bioner Uruguay Otegui Group 9
Aguia Maderas del Uruguay Brazil N/A 1
Ponlar Uruguay N/A 2.5
Los Piques USA Weyerhaeuser 5
Alur Uruguay (90%)-
Venezuela (10%) ANCAP and PDVSA 5
Regarding solar thermal energy, Law 18,585, approved in September 2009, besides granting
tax incentives for the industry’s development establishes that in two years construction
permits of buildings for health care centers, hotels and sports clubs will only be authorized
when they include complete equipments enabling to cover at least 50% of their energy
consumption for water heating with solar thermal energy.
9. CASE STUDIES
9.1. BOTNIA URU GUA Y
With an investment of more than US$ 1.2 billion and a
processing capacity of a million tons of eucalyptus pulp per
year, Botnia Uruguay is the largest production venture of
Uruguay, starting operations in 2007. This venture is mainly
owned by Finnish company UPM-Kymmene Oyj, one of the
world’s largest paper producers, and includes 180,000 hectares
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of land in Uruguay.
The plant uses the waste dissolved in cooking liquor, and in some cases also scraps wood, to
generate electric power exceeding its own consumption, and surplus is then sold to the
network. In year 2008, Botnia’s generation delivered to the network was 116 GWh, which
represented 0.2% of UTE's total demand.
9.2. FENIROL S.A.
The project is an investment of approximately U$S 25 million, and adheres to the Clean
Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. The production of electric energy is done
based on forestry and rice waste. The company is owned by four business groups of different
origins: Conatel (electrical products), Tsakos (shipyard), Branaa (tannery) and Secco
(slaughterhouse).
The company won the tender for up to 8.8 MW, and the contract is for 14 years.
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10. ANNEX
10.1. MA IN BOD IE S A ND A GENC IES L INKED TO THIS S U BJECT
ADME: parastatal body which, together with the National Load Dispatch, carries out the dispatch of the different public and private generators. www.adme.com.uy
Regulatory Agency for Energy and Water Services (URSEA for its Spanish acronyms): body responsible for the regulation of energy and water industries. www.ursea.gub.uy
UTE: electricity public company with the monopoly of electric power transmission, distribution and commercialization, but not generation. www.ute.com.uy
Joint Technical Committee of Salto Grande: Argentinean-Uruguayan hydroelectric dam. www.saltogrande.org
National Directorate of Nuclear Energy and Technology: body under the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining. www.dnetn.gub.uy
Uruguayan Association of Wind Energy: chamber of private operators. www.auee.com.uy
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10.2. INSTA LLED POWE R OW NED BY THE URU GUAYA N PU BLIC INDU STRY4
Installed power (MW) (corresponding to power made available)
2005 2006 2007 2008
Hydraulic Power Stations 593 593 593 593
Terra 152 152 152 152
Baygorria 108 108 108 108
Constitución 333 333 333 333
Thermal Units - Steam 255 255 255 255
3rd and 4th 50 50 50 50
5th 80 80 80 80
6th 125 125 125 125
Gas turbines 232 432 432 532
AA 20 20 20 20
CTR 212 212 212 212
Punta del Tigre
200 200 300
Wind Power
10
Sierra de los Caracoles
10
Independent Diesel Groups 7 3 2 2
Total generation assets 1,087 1,283 1,282 1,392
Annual maximum charge 1,368 1,409 1,654 1,481
The share of the Salto Grande Dam owned by Uruguay (940 MW) shall be added to these
data, since it is jointly owned with Argentina.
The maximum consumption peak was reached in July 2009, at 1,684 MW.
Consulting firm CPA/Ferrere estimates that energy demand will increase by approximately
20% in the next 5 years, conservatively assuming annual GDP growth of about 3.5%.
10.3. OTHE R FAC TORS TO C ONS IDE R
Cost of the land
See below a table with the average values of the land. It is worth noting that the price paid
to the owners for the acquisition of the land for the Sierra de los Caracoles wind farm (about
US$ 2,800/hectare) was close to the average transaction value for that location (department
of Maldonado).
4 Source: www.ute.com.uy
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Sale and purchase of agricultural use
Number of operations, area sold and value by department – January 1st to June 30th, 2009
Number of operations
Total area sold (ha)
Average area sold (ha)
Total value (US$, thousands)
Average value (US$/ha)
Total 869 142,584 164 327,827 2,299
Artigas 29 9,962 344 11,008 1,105
Canelones 60 2,856 48 8,920 3,124
Cerro Largo 63 10,433 166 17,436 1,671
Colonia 85 5,361 63 16,707 3,116
Durazno 34 11,705 344 38,428 3,283
Flores 13 4,278 329 12,496 2,921
Florida 35 3,941 113 7,579 1,923
Lavalleja 63 5,642 90 12,443 2,206
Maldonado 82 3,613 44 10,685 2,957
Paysandú 31 23,982 774 50,757 2,116
Río Negro 24 10,496 437 35,760 3,407
Rivera 39 5,227 134 5,626 1,076
Rocha 64 4,333 68 11,051 2,551
Salto 43 7,629 177 11,007 1,443
San José 70 4,620 66 13,104 2,836
Soriano 36 8,321 231 28,729 3,453
Tacuarembó 68 16,805 247 30,337 1,805
Treinta y Tres 30 3,380 113 5,752 1,702
The locations with greater capacity for the installation of energy projects (short circuit
power) may be seen at:
http://www.ute.com.uy/servicios_cliente/grandes_clientes/Uruguay_Red_de_UTE_09-04.pdf5
5 The password to access such map is “UTE”.
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10.4. URUGU AY IN A NUTSHELL (2008)6
Official name República Oriental del Uruguay
Location South America, bordering Argentina and Brazil
Capital Montevideo
Surface area 176,215 km
2 (68,037 mi
2). 95% of the territory has soil suitable for
agriculture and livestock activities.
Population 3.3 million
Population growth 0.3% (annual)
GDP per capita US$ 10,082
GDP per capita (PPP) US$ 13,295
Currency Uruguayan peso ($)
Literacy rate 98%
Life expectancy at birth 76 years
Form of government Democratic republic with presidential system
Political divisions 19 departments
Time zone GMT - 03:00
Official language Spanish
10.5. Major Economic Indicators 2004 -20084
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Annual GDP growth rate 5.0% 7.5% 4.6% 7.6% 8.9%
GDP (PPP), US$ millions 28,930 32,048 34,602 38,235 42,543
GDP, US$ millions (current) 13,740 17,478 20,001 24,432 32,262
Exports (US$ millions), goods and services 4,257 5,085 5,787 6,936 9,334
Imports (US$ millions), goods and services 3,778 4,693 5,877 6,770 10,083
Trade Surplus / Deficit (US$ millions) 478 393 (90) 166 (749)
Trade Surplus / Deficit (% of GDP) 3.5% 2.3% (0.5)% 0.7% (2.3)%
Current Account Surplus / Deficit (US$ millions) 3 42 (392) (212) (1.225)
Current Account Surplus / Deficit (% of GDP) 0.0% 0.2% (2.0)% (0.9)% (3.8)%
Overall fiscal balance (% of GDP) (1.8)% (0.4)% (0.5)% 0.0% (1.4)%
Gross capital formation (% of GDP at current prices) 17.5% 17.7% 20.3% 21.0% 23.0%
Gross national savings (% of GDP) 16.7% 17.6% 16.9% 19.0% 17.9%
Foreign direct investment (US$ millions) 332 847 1.493 1.329 2.205
Foreign direct investment (% of GDP) 2.4% 4.8% 7.5% 5.4% 6.8%
Exchange rate Peso / US$ 28.7 24.5 24.1 23.5 20.9
Reserve assets (US$ millions) 2,512 3,071 3,097 4,121 6,360
Unemployment rate (% of EAP) 13.1% 12.2% 11.4% 9.1% 7.6%
Annual inflation rate 7.6% 4.9% 6.4% 8.5% 9.2%
Net Foreign Debt (US$ millions) 8,624 7,531 6,959 6,448 4,537
6 GDP data was taken from the IMF; data on foreign trade, FDI, exchange rate, international reserves and
foreign debt was provided by the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU); population growth, literacy, unemployment and inflation data comes from the National Statistics Institute (INE).
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INVESTOR SERVICES
About Us
Uruguay XXI is the country’s investment and export promotion agency. Among other functions, Uruguay XXI provides no-cost support to foreign investors, both those who are evaluating where to make investments as well as those currently operating in Uruguay.
Our Investor Services
Uruguay XXI is the first point of contact for foreign investors. Services we provide include:
Promotion. We promote investment opportunities at strategic events, business missions and round tables.
Facilitation of foreign investor visits, including organization of meetings with public authorities, suppliers, potential partners and business chambers.
Contact with key players. We provide contacts with government agencies, industry players, financial institutions, R&D centers and potential partners, among others.
Macroeconomic and industry information. Uruguay XXI regularly prepares reports on Uruguay and on various sectors of the economy.
Tailored information. We prepare customized information to answer specific questions, such as macroeconomic data, labor market information, tax and legal aspects, incentive programs for investments, location and costs.
Publication of investment opportunities. On our website, we periodically publish information on investment projects by public entities and private companies.
www.uruguayxxi.gub.uy
