Latin America and the Caribbean continues to hold one of the cleanest electricity matrices in the world. According to the Monthly Electricity Generation Report by the Latin American and Caribbean Energy Organization (OLACDE), the region generated 158 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in February 2026. This reflects an energy system where renewables account for 67.7% of total generation, while fossil fuels contribute 29.7% and nuclear energy 2.6%.
This figure underscores a structural reality: Latin America and the Caribbean remains a key player in the global energy transition, with an electricity mix that significantly exceeds the global average for clean power generation, which stands at 33.8% as of the first quarter of 2026.
However, the region remains heavily dependent on hydropower, which represented 45.4% of total generation. The next largest sources were natural gas (22.7%) and wind power (12.2%). Together, these three technologies account for more than 80% of monthly electricity generation, highlighting their structural importance in meeting regional power demand.
Lower Hydropower Dependence and Stronger Growth in Non-Conventional Renewables
A year-on-year comparison with February 2025 shows a 3.9% increase in regional electricity generation, equivalent to an additional 6 TWh. More importantly, the composition of this growth reveals a major shift: while hydropower generation declined by 9 TWh, other technologies more than compensated with a combined increase of 15 TWh.
Emerging renewable sources were primarily responsible for this compensation:
• Wind: +6 TWh
• Bioenergy: +5 TWh
• Solar: +2 TWh
This pattern highlights a fundamental trend within the regional power system: diversification toward other renewable sources is gaining momentum and reducing structural vulnerabilities.
Generation Declines in February
The report also indicates that electricity generation in February 2026 declined by 6.2% compared to January of the same year. This contraction was partly due to the natural calendar adjustment — February had only 28 days — as well as a generalized decline across nearly all energy sources.
The sharpest reductions were recorded in coal (-17%), geothermal (-14%), and natural gas (-10%), followed by oil, nuclear, and solar. This is a significant indicator, as it shows that the decline was not driven by technological substitution, but rather by an overall compression in energy dispatch.
View the full report at the following link: https://www.olade.org/en/publicaciones/june-2026-electricity-generation-report-no-14-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean/
