Electricity sector in Bolivia

Installed capacity

In Bolivia, the National Interconnected System (SIN) connects major population centers and represents 83% of the installed capacity. The SIN provides electricity to the largest cities and operates in the Departments of Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Oruro, Potosí and Chuquisaca. Its grid extends over 1,200 miles and covers the central and southern parts of the country. The population in the northern and western parts of the country remains largely unconnected to the national grid, either served by the off-grid system (the Aislado) or having no access to electricity at all. The off-grid system consists of numerous self producers and independent power plants in rural or isolated areas.

Total installed capacity in 2006 was 1.43 GW, of which 60% was thermal production, which primarily burns natural gas, and 40% hydroelectric. The contribution of other renewables is almost negligible. Total electricity production in the same year amounted to 5.29 TWh. This figure does not include electricity produced in rural areas from biomass facilities, which are unorganized, decentralized, and difficult to quantify.

Bolivia’s electricity export and import activities are fairly limited. Imports from Brazil amount to less than 0.01 TWh per year and have so far been devoted to supply the city of Puerto Suarez, in the Department of Santa Cruz.

Demand

Electric power consumption per capita in 2006 was 588 kWh (a 19% increase since 1996). By sector, residential consumption represents 40% of the total, followed by industrial consumption with 28%.

Demand and supply projection

According to the demand projections prepared by the Superintendencia de Electricidad (SE), the generation capacity reserve will be insufficient by 2009 as it will fall below the recommended 10% if no new capacity is developed.

Access to electricity

In 2005, total access to electricity in Bolivia was 67%, one of the lowest in Latin America. Urban access was 87%, while rural access remained as low as 30%.

(See Recent Developments for more information on electrification plans)

Interruption frequency and duration

Service quality as measured by interruptions was much better than the LAC average in 2005. In the period November 2004 – October 2005 there were a total of 141 transmission interruptions (up from 86 in the previous period), with a total duration of 4,274 minutes. 57% of the interruptions were due to weather conditions and, while 17% derived from facility operations. In 2005, the average duration of interruptions per subscriber was 5 hours (highest since 1998 although far below the 14 hours average for LAC), while the average number of interruptions per subscriber per year was 7 (highest since 1995 but also below the 13 average for LAC).

Distribution and transmission losses

During the 1990s and up to 2005, distribution losses have always been close to 10%, which is below the 13.6% average for the region.

Policy and regulation

The Viceministry of Electricity and Alternative Energy, within the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, is in charge of establishing policies and designing the regulation for the electricity sector. The Superintendencia de Electricidad (SE) is responsible for applying the regulation.

The companies that belong to the National Interconnected System (SIN) must be vertically unbundled. However, the companies in the off-grid system (the Aislado) are allowed to perform more than one of the activities defined in the electricity industry (i.e. generation, transmission, distribution).

Generation

Currently, there are eight generation companies in the interconnected system, all of them privately owned. The three largest companies alone represent 70% of the total generation. The largest company serving the SIN is the Compañia Boliviana de Energía Eléctrica (COBEE), which serves the region surrounding La Paz. The other two are Empresa Eléctrica Guarachi (EGSA) and Empresa Eléctrica Corani (CORANI).

Transmission

Currently, there are three transmission companies which operate the high-voltage Interconnecting Trunk System (STI), the backbone of the SIN. ENDE Corporation, ISA Bolivia, which was created in 2005, and San Cristobal TESA. The state-owned ENDE incorporates Transportadora de Electricidad (TDE), which was owned by Spain’s Red Electrica de España (REE). As of 2013, its transmission network extended 2,850 km, representing 79% of the national total. ISA Bolivia, which runs 587 km, or 16%, of the transmission network in Bolivia, is a subsidiary of Interconexión Eléctrica S.A. (ISA), a corporation controlled by the government of Colombia. San Cristobal TESA has 172 km of transmission lines, or 5%. The number of companies is limited due to the existence of institutional entry barriers in this sector.

Distribution

In Bolivia, the six existing distribution companies enjoy a geographic monopoly in their concession areas. The largest company is Electropaz, majority-owned by Spain’s Iberdrola; followed by Empresa de Luz y Fuerza Eléctrica Cochabamba (ELFEC), which was owned by the American PPL Global until 2007. The third place is occupied by the Rural Electrification Cooperative (CRE), which operates in the Department of Santa Cruz.

In some cases, especially in the high plateau, cooperatives and community organizations access the distribution companies’ network and sell electricity to small rural communities. Sometimes, those are organized enterprises that provide the service to middle-size towns, but in most cases, they are small organizations that serve family communities. This situation faces a legal vacuum since the consumers benefiting from these scheme, who do not consume the minimum power established legally established, cannot be considered as regulated ones. In addition, these consumers are localized outside the distribution companies’ concession areas, so they cannot receive the companies’ service. In practice, the distribution companies are reselling electricity to the mentioned organizations outside the legal framework. Accurate information on the number of organizations that operate in rural areas does not exist. However, there are approximately three in La Paz, twenty in Oruro and three in Potosi.

Operators in the off-grid system

The departments of Beni, Pando and Tarija and the eastern region of Santa Cruz are not integrated in the SIN. As a result, there are vertically integrated operators that provide the service. The most important operators are:

Early history

The National Interconnected System (SIN) was created in 1965 and continued its expansion during the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Unbundling and privatization

Until 1994, the vertically integrated public utility, ENDE (Empresa Nacional de Electricidad) dominated the sector. In 1994, Bolivia initiated an infrastructure reform program that included the privatization of the major state owned enterprises. The Electricity Law 1994/1604 mandated the privatization of the electricity system and the unbundling of generation, transmission and distribution activities. The law aimed to increase efficiency in the sector, promote competition and encourage investment.

As a result of privatization, three generation companies were created: Corani, Guaracachi and Valle Hermoso. Each of them received a part of ENDE’s generation activities (the law limited the market share of each to 35%). Initially, these firms were granted exclusive rights, but by 1999 entry was liberalized and some other small companies entered the market. In regards to transmission, network operation was transferred from ENDE to Transportadora de Electricidad, a private company, which acquired exclusive rights. Finally, several distribution firms were created after the reform. All those firms operate under tariff regulation and are subject to tariff controls. CRE (Cooperative for Rural Electrification), a pre-existing distribution cooperative, maintained its position as an independent regional monopoly. CESSA (Compañía Eléctrica de Sucre S.A.) and SEPSA (Servicios Eléctricos Potosí S.A. ), two pre-existing municipal distribution firms also maintained their monopolies while ELFEC (Empresa Luz y Fuerza Eléctrica Cochabamba), which was a municipal company previously to privatization, started to operate as a private firm. Lastly, the private COBEE (Compañía Boliviana de Energía Eléctrica), which operated both in generation and distribution, gave rise, after its divestiture, to Electropaz (in La Paz) and ELFEO (Empresa Luz y Fuerza Eléctrica Oruro) (in Oruro).

All these reforms, together with the introduction of a load dispatch coordination office, shaped a wholesale electricity market that seeks to simulate competitive conditions.

Rural electrification efforts

In 2002, the government established Bolivia’s Rural Electrification Plan (PLABER) with the objective of contributing to the socio-economic development of rural areas through access to electricity and its efficient and productive uses. The short-term goal of the program was to make 200,000 new connections within five years (increasing electricity access in rural areas from 23% to 45%). It had been estimated that, by the end of the program, PLABER would have reached its goals by 70% of the initial objective. However, the model established by this program did not have significative effects in increasing coverage, expanding infrastructure and improving service quality in rural and isolated areas.

A new Rural Electrification Decree was approved in 2005 (Supreme Decree No. 28567). This new decree aims at increasing rural access through the extension and densification of electric networks, development of renewable energy and a change in the energy mix (substitution of diesel by natural gas, biomass and other renewable energies) and an increase in distribution capacity. The Rural Electrification Decree and its associated regulatory framework encourages stakeholders in the energy sector to establish partnerships with other government agencies to implement the rural electrification plan. An agreement between the Ministry of Public Works, Services and Housing and the Ministry of Education will allow for the installation of solar PV systems in rural areas in conjunction with the literacy program, “I can” (Yo, sí puedo). Under the pilot phase, 500 solar panels are expected to be installed.

Recent developments

In 2006, under President Evo Morales, a new Law for Universal Access to Electricity (Ley de Acceso Universal) was proposed. Under the framework of this Law, the program called ‘Electricity for a Decent Living” has been designed to improve both rural and urban electrification. The short-term goal (2006–2010) of the program is to increase rural electrification to 53% (connection of 210,000 new households) and urban electrification to 97% (connection of 460,000 new households). The medium-term goal (2010–2015) is to achieve universal access in urban areas and a 70% access in rural ones. In the final stages, rural access would have increased to 87% by 2020 and universal coverage would be reached by 2025. The Law also mandates de creation of a Common Fund for Universal Access to Public Electricity Service (FOCO) and creates a co-financing mechanism of the National Government with Prefectures, municipalities and the private sector. However, the Law has not been approved yet, although it is expected that the Law and the mechanisms it creates will be approved soon.

Tariffs

Electricity tariffs in Bolivia are far lower than average tariffs in Latin America. The average residential tariff in 2006 was US$0.0614 per kWh (compared to US$0.115 per kWh weighted averagein LAC), while the average tariff for the industry was US$0.044 per kWh (compared to US$0.107 per kWh weighted average in LAC).

Electricity prices charged by the distribution companies to their regulated clients include energy costs (including generation and transmission costs) and all the distribution costs, including a specific return on investment. However, as it was mentioned before, some distribution companies resell electricity to communal organizations or rural enterprises. The price and conditions of those transactions are not regulated, which causes an important legal void in the sector.

Subsidies

In March 2006, the Bolivian government approved Tarifa Dignidad (“Dignity Tariff”) by Supreme Decree 28653. This tariff grants a 25% discount in their electricity bills to those consumers whose monthly consumption is below 70 kWh in the urban areas and 30 kWh in the rural ones. This subsidy, which will be covered for four years by the electricity companies that operate in Bolivia, will benefit about 480,000 households.

Investment and financing

In the years following the privatization of 1994, investment grew considerably due to the obligations imposed on the privatized companies. Public investment remained constant, mainly directed to rural electrification, while private investment was mainly devoted to generation.

In the period 1995-2004, total investment in transmission represented only a modest 2% (US$14 million) of the total investment in the electricity sector. Generation and distribution received 58% and 40% of total investment respectively. For the year 2004 in particular, total public investment in the electricity sector was around $US 20million which was matched by another $US20 million from private sources. Those two figures add up to less than 0.5% of Bolivia’s GDP in 2004.

Distribution companies acquire investment commitments for each tariff period. For the period 2003-2005, total investment by the main distribution companies was US$39.7 million. This was divided as follows:

Summary of private participation in the electricity sector

The Electricity Law 1994/1604 mandated the privatization of the electricity system and the unbundling of generation, transmission and distribution activities, which had all been in the hands of ENDE (Empresa Nacional de Electricidad) the vertically integrated public utility. Today, 100% of generation, transmission and distribution activities are in private hands.

Three of the eight generation companies in the interconnected system represent 70% of total generation, with COBEE (Compañía Boliviana de Energía Eléctrica) being the most important. Transmission in the National Interconnected System is in the hands of just two companies as entry in this sector is institutionally restricted. As for distribution, the six existing companies enjoy a geographic monopoly in their concession areas. The largest company is Electropaz, which is majority-owned by Spain's Iberdrola.

In May 2010 president Evo Morales nationalized 80% of Bolivian generation by capacity, in his Government's attempt to regain ownership of public service companies. Corani, Guarachi, and Valle Hermoso, where expropriated from their former British and French owners. In the same fashion, in May 2012 the transmission company Transmisora de Electricidad S.A., from Spanish capitals, was similarly expropriated.

(*) 53% of the transmission network is operated by ISA Bolivia, a subsidiary of ISA Colombia, which is controlled by the Colombian government.

Responsibility for the environment

The Viceministry of Land Planning and Environment, within the Planning and Development Ministry, holds the environmental responsibilities in Bolivia.

Greenhouse gas emissions

OLADE (Organización Latinoamericana de Energía) estimated that CO₂ emissions from electricity production in 2003 were 1.73 million tons of CO₂, which represents 22 percent of total emissions for the energy sector.

CDM projects in electricity

Currently, there are just two CDM-registered projects in Bolivia, one of them in the electricity sector. That is the Rio Taquesi Hydroelectric Power Project, in the province of Sud Yungas, with an effective capacity of 89.5 megawatts and estimated emission reductions of 141,691 metric tonnes CO₂e per annum