Regional strategic energy transition priorities and transition readiness levers TABLE 23.3 Goals and pathways for the energy transition To accelerate a secure and inclusive energy transition, LAC must focus on four interconnected goals. These energy transition goals reflect both the region’s strengths – such as high renewables potential and growing climate ambition – and its structural challenges, including outdated infrastructure in many instances, limited innovation capacity and investment constraints. They are supported by a set of energy transition pathways – practical focus areas such as energy access, climate resilience, renewables scale-up, grid integration and industrial transformation – that offer actionable levers for system-level change. Together, these goals and pathways define the region’s strategic priorities and map clearly to the key transition readiness levers: regulation and political commitment, infrastructure, education and human capital, innovation and financial investments (Table 2). Goal 1 Build secure, resilient, accessible and integrated energy systems Why it matters: Addresses outdated infrastructure, high T&D losses and rising exposure to hydrological and supply risks. Relevant energy transition pathways: –Energy access and reliability –Regional grid integration and planning –Grid infrastructure transition and optimization –Risk management, system resilience and climate adaptation Regulation and political commitmentFinancial investmentsEducation and human capitalInfrastructure Innovation Harmonize regional grid codes and reliability standards to enable cross-border trade and integrationMobilize blended finance and other innovative financing tools to accelerate grid modernization and climate adaptation investmentsBuild specialized workforce skills in grid operations, maintenance and resilience planningModernize and expand T&D networks, incorporating digital monitoring, flexible capacity and storage solutionsDeploy smart grid technologies and advanced forecasting to manage variable renewables Goal 2 Diversify energy mix and scale clean energy development Why it matters: Builds on renewables leadership but addresses uneven deployment and hydro dependency. Relevant energy transition pathways: –Decarbonization and emissions reduction –Renewable energy scale-up –Clean molecule development (hydrogen, biofuels) Regulation and political commitmentFinancial investmentsEducation and human capitalInfrastructure Innovation Streamline permitting and licensing to accelerate clean energy projects, learning from regional best practicesDe-risk private investment in renewable energy and clean molecule projects through derisking strategies including guarantees, stable power purchase agreements (PPAs) and other instrumentsBuild specialized workforce skills and training programmes for solar, wind and clean molecule technologies, with regional knowledge- sharing hubs to support deployment and operation, and transfer workers from legacy energy sectors into clean technologiesInvest in hybrid renewable projects and diversified generation assetsSupport R&D in storage, grid integration and alternative fuels Energy Transition Readiness: Latin America and the Caribbean 19

Latin America&Caribbean Energy Transition 2025