The benefits of investing in power grids in Latin America and the Caribbean

Project description

The project, commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), aimed to quantify the cost of not investing in transmission in Latin America and the Caribbean and to translate it into policy and investment guidance. It consisted of the development and application of OSTRAM (OSeMOSYS for Transmission Modelling), a power system expansion optimization model covering 19 countries over the 2026–2050 horizon, used to compare four expansion pathways that serve exactly the same demand—two with adequate grid investment (least-cost optimal and nationally planned) and two in which transmission investment is limited to its historical trend—complemented by a sensitivity analysis on cost assumptions and a regional roadmap.