The companies driving Latin America's power capex growth

Electric power companies with a presence in Latin America and the Caribbean are set to increase capital spending by more than 13% this year, according to a new BNamericas Intelligence Series report. 

Twenty-four of the largest sector players – for whom figures are publicly available – have set aside US$104bn in combined capital investments compared to US$91.7bn in 2023.

Seventeen of the companies said they would outlay more this year than last. In percentage terms, the companies with the largest planned increases are EPM (128%), Celsia (116%), Eletrobras (67%) and Ende (64%). 

They are followed by Canadian Solar (61%), CFE (57%) and EDF (53%). 

Among the companies to have released multi-year plans, EDF has the biggest proposed budget, setting aside US$23.9bn. Next is Iberdrola (US$13bn) followed by Enel (US$12.9bn), Sempra (US$9.6bn), Engie (US$8.48bn) and EDP (US$6.75bn). 

Six companies plan to invest less this year. The most notable forecast decrease is that of Acciona, which has earmarked US$2.21bn in 2024 compared to a realized figure of US$3.5bn in 2023. 

Others to tighten their budgets this year are Pampa Energía (down 20%), Enel (down 12%), UTE (down 7%), Genneia (down 4%) and Engie (down 4%). 

The projected overall increase in capital spending coincides with a growing sense of urgency related to the energy transition in Latin America, which is lagging behind much of the developed world, the report says.

Read the full report here