Big boost to efforts promoting expansion in Bolivia’s use of renewables and increased energy efficiency

Following three days of highly participatory and intensely productive work - all conducted via an online workshop - key stakeholders in Bolivia’s energy sector reached a milestone consensus on the selection of energy efficiency indicators.

“Despite the complexity of the discussions, we have achieved remarkable results in a very short time and in such an efficient way, especially considering the diversity of the institutions and people involved,” said Rolf Sielfeld, NIRAS-IP Consult’s Team Leader of the GIZ Renewable Energies Programme (PEERR).

“This day marks a before and after in Bolivia's energy future. The consensus we have reached not only generates a much richer information base, which facilitates energy planning decisions in the country, but also makes the market more accessible. With these indicators, new doors will open for other actors such as companies or products and services related to energy efficiency and renewable energy.”

Measuring progress so as to make timely adjustments

Under the framework of phase 2 of the GIZ PEERR programme, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), NIRAS-IP Consult hosted the 12-15 May online workshop, which aimed to define the selection and reporting of indicators to serve as a control and improvement mechanism for the efficient use of energy across all sectors and value chains.

At the workshop, Mr Juan Carlos Guzmán, NIRAS IP consultant for GIZ GmbH presented a conceptual framework developed by the PEERR team to support the measurement of energy efficiency. "The model shows that energy is not being efficiently used,” Mr Guzmán explained. “Having indicators will alert authorities and decision-makers to shortcomings and enable them to respond accordingly.”

Strong participation, great results

Organised in cooperation with the Vice Ministry of Electricity and Alternative Energies (VMEEA), the workshop was attended by senior executives from state power generation and distribution companies, the Vice Ministry of Hydrocarbon Planning and Development, senior executives of VMEEA and representatives of other public institutions of great relevance in the energy market. Over the three days for two hours at a time, between 30 and 44 participants discussed the proposed monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system for Bolivia’s energy market before coming to consensus on the final day.

In thanking the organisers for the methodological guidance and the results achieved, Mr. Hugo Mollinedo from ENDE Guaracachi, the National Electricity Company Bolivia, noted, “These tools will enable us to better assess the energy situation in Bolivia and enable all actors in the sector to collaborate more closely together.”

This recognition of the need for great coordination was seconded by Mr Oscar Algarañaz, Head of the Hydrocarbon Statistics and Information Unit in the Ministry of Hydrocarbons. “This extremely important work is timely as it will help us improve energy planning as a country. We will coordinate with each other in order to structure and improve the methodology and the quality of information generated, and make the process more transparent.”

Reaching an agreement is a milestone for GIZ’s support to government efforts in the expansion of renewables and increased energy efficiency. It is significant not only in terms of improved transparency in the management and reporting of information and tracking progress on Bolivia’s energy and environmental policy commitments, but also for the Latin American energy market for the promotion of services and products that incorporate energy efficiency and the development of renewable energies. The agreement facilitates market access, which is important as Bolivia is highly nationalised and up to now there has been little private participation in the energy market.