Peru - Energy and power

Of the electric power produced in Peru in 2000, 81.4% was hydroelectric, 17.9% was thermal (mostly from diesel fuel, gasoline, and natural gas), and less than 1% was from other sources. The hydroelectric potential has been estimated at 60 million kW. Between 1960 and 2001, installed generating capacity increased from 841,000 kW to 6,106,000 kW. Production increased from 2,656 million kWh to 19,500 million kWh in 2000. Consumption of electricity in 2000 was 18.3 billion kWh, low by Latin American standards.

In 1972, the government assumed control of electricity production and distribution through Electroperú, a newly created state authority. Peru's electric development plan called for the expenditure during the 1980s of some $6 billion on new generating plants and $3 billion on distribution and transmission facilities. A 1992 law reversed the decision to nationalize Electroperú, and it was broken up into three parts by the end of 1996. As of 2002, however, much of the electric sector was still government-controlled. Demand for electric power is growing rapidly.

In the 1970s, Peru's Upper Amazon Basin was developed into a major petroleum source; the nation's petroleum export revenues increased from $52.2 million in 1977 to $646 million in 1985. The 853 km (530 mi) trans-Andean pipeline, with a capacity of 200,000 barrels a day, was completed in 1977. Peru's petroleum fields are located in the northwestern parts of Piura and Tumbes, where oil was known in pre-Columbian days, and first produced in 1896. Peru's proven oil reserves amounted to 355 million barrels in early 2000. Production amounted to about 96,000 barrels per day in 2001, down from 100,000 in 2000. Natural gas reserves in 2002 were estimated at 246 billion cu m (8.68 trillion cu ft), and production in 1999 amounted to about 566 million cu m (20 billion cu ft). A variety of factors have delayed development of Peru's Camisea natural gas field, the largest in South America. Contracts to develop the field were signed in March 2001. It was expected that exploitation of this field would boost the country's gas production significantly. In 1969, the development of oil resources fell under the direction of the state-owned company Petroperú, which was partially privatized in 1993. Its successor is Perupetro.