CHAPTER 21 RIDE THE GREEN WAVE -- EXPLORATION OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES ON RESOURCE PROJECTS FOR RESOURCE COMPANIES AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
| Jurisdiction | Derecho Internacional |
RIDE THE GREEN WAVE -- EXPLORATION OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES ON RESOURCE PROJECTS FOR RESOURCE COMPANIES AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
Castellano Carlevaro Asociados,
Montevideo Alejandro Massot,
Estudio Randle,
Buenos Airesr Caroline O'Driscoll,
O'Driscoll & Company,
Calgary Julia Torreblanca,
Freeport, Arequipa, Peru
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NICOLÁS CASTELLANO GARD is a Partner with Castellano Carlevaro Asociados, in Montevideo. He has over 14 years of experience in corporate law. He specializes in advising local and international companies in different aspects related to their businesses in Uruguay, including setting up corporations, drafting and negotiating contracts with clients and suppliers, and relationships with the Uruguayan regulatory bodies. In recent years, as Uruguay profited from the renewable energy policies in place, he has been directly involved advising developers, EPC contractors, and land owners, in both photovoltaic and wind energy projects for over 200 MW. In this capacity, he has participated in all stages of the projects, from securing bidding processes with Uruguay's electric utility "UTE", negotiating PPAs, structuring financing, EPC contracting, through civil works execution and installation of wind turbines and solar panels. His area of expertise further involves advising court-appointed administrators in company bankruptcy processes, working together with CPAs. He led the team of lawyers advising private companies in the negotiation and drafting of the first biodiesel 15-year contracts with the state-owned Uruguayan oil utility "ANCAP", including project financing with public and private banks for over USD 60 million. Nicolas graduated from the University of Montevideo in Law (J.D.) in 2005. He was an associate at Guyer & Regules law firm from 2004 until 2008, working in the Corporate and Banking departments. In 2008 he travelled to China to complete the International Management Program from Boston University in Beijing and Shanghai. He later obtained a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Boston University in 2010. Since 2010 he has been a partner in Castellano, Carlevaro & Asociados, and acts as a member in the board of directors of cable TV, micro credit, edible oil, and flour mill industries in Uruguay. He is fluent in Spanish, English, and Italian.
ALEJANDRO MARÍA MASSOT is a Partner with Estudio Randle in Buenos Aires. Mr. Massot obtained his law degree from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. In 2008 he graduated as an LL.M. from the University of Chicago Law School. In 2011 he obtained a Masters Degree in Law and Economics from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, being awarded the Best Thesis Award. Mr. Massot advises clients on corporate matters (companies, mergers & acquisitions), energy and natural resources matters, agribusiness, and antitrust law. Mr. Massot has experience in data protection and IP matters. He has been Professor of Natural Resources Law at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella Law School; he also collaborates with the Universidad Notarial Argentina. He has published extensively on several legal and business matters. He is a member of the Bar of the City of Buenos Aires and of the New York State Bar. He chairs the Argentine Chapter of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association. Mr. Massot is admitted to practice in the City of Buenos Aires and in the State of New York. He is an advisor to the President of the Mining Commission of the Federal Congress of Argentina.
CAROLINE O'DRISCOLL is the founder of O'Driscoll & Company (2013), a law firm based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that specializes in corporate/commercial, regulatory and energy law with a client base consisting primarily of Indigenous governments, trusts and legal entities. An active member of the Law Society of Alberta since 2007, Caroline has acted for various clients on a range of multi-party, multi-jurisdictional, commercial negotiations and transactions that involve indigenous and non-indigenous entities and corporations and various levels of provincial and federal governments in Canada. Specific matters include corporate re-structuring, financing and acquisition of a variety of oil and gas interests and on and off-reserve investments, as well as drafting and facilitation of the implementation of federal legislation under the Indian Act, R.S.C. 1985, c.I-5. Caroline is also an active litigator, appearing in both the Federal Court of Canada and various levels of the Alberta Courts, as well as before the regulatory bodies of both Alberta and Canada's energy regimes. Recent engagements include intervenor representation in the Northern Gateway Pipeline Project (CEAA/NEB JRP OH-4-2011) and Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC Trans Mountain Expansion Project (NEB OH-001-2014), as well as judicial reviews of the Alberta Energy Regulator (ABQB Action No. 1601-00792) and the Aboriginal Consultation Office (Alberta) and the Alberta and federal Crowns (ABQB Action No. 1601-00791) with respect to a pipeline expansion project. Caroline recently completed her M.Sc. (Sustainable Energy Development) and has co-founded Optima Global Inc. (2018), a multi-disciplinary team of professionals that collaborates with communities to assess community resources and needs, identify and evaluate potential opportunities for development, and implement all phases of a chosen development project. Caroline earned a B.Ed. and B.Sc. (Environmental Science) and worked as a secondary school teacher, before earning her J.D. (2006, University of Calgary) and LL.M. (2012, York University - Osgoode Hall Law School).
JULIA TORREBLANCA is Vice-President of Corporate Affairs for Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde S.A.A., based in Arequipa, Peru. Cerro Verde is majority held by Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Julia graduated as a lawyer from Santa Maria Catholic University, Peru. She joined Cerro Verde in 1997 and has worked in several positions of increasing responsibility since then. She was appointed Vice-President of Corporate Affairs in March 2012. She is in charge of the Legal, Energy, Government Relations, Public and Community Relations; and is the main person responsible for all the company's growth and sustainable development initiatives, alliances signed with local governments and public companies, as well as improving the quality of life of the inhabitants in the surrounding communities and Arequipa. Julia is also the Secretary of the Board of Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde, Vice-President of the Cerro Verde Civil Association and member of the Technical Commission of the Cerro Verde Civil Association, in charge of managing the voluntary contribution of this Company. She is Secretary Director of the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy. Also is Member of the Board of Foreign Trade Society of Peru ComexPeru, Procobre Peru and Director of Board of Directors of Institute of Mining Engineers of Peru. She is an ABAC member (APEC Business Advisory Council), too.
OVERVIEW
In the Energy for a Sustainable Future Report and Recommendations of the Secretary-General's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC), 28 April 2010, it emphasizes the importance of energy and that: "[e]nergy is at the heart of most critical economic, environmental and developmental issues facing the world today. Clean, efficient, affordable and reliable energy services are indispensable for global prosperity."1 In light of this reality, this paper explores the evolution of renewable energy projects in Latin America, as well as the interaction of renewable energies and the existing extractive industry sector. The paper also considers the implications of energy planning and development generally, and the opportunity that it can potentially provide to promote sustainable community capacity development in Indigenous and rural communities. Various case studies and examples are included throughout the paper to provide practical illustrations and highlight lessons learned and benefits gained.
SUMMARY OF THE EVOLUTION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS IN LATIN AMERICA
Introduction
Renewable energy has historically played a major role in Latin America due to the huge presence of hydropower and liquid biofuels. However in the past decade, non-conventional renewable energy sources (wind, biomass, and solar) ("NCREs") have experienced an exponential growth helping countries to reduce greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions, enhance supply reliability by diversifying the energy mix and reduce dependence on imported fuels.2
Latin America now hosts one of the world's most dynamic renewable energy markets. Renewable energy investment has grown 11-fold since 2004 in Latin America, compared with a 6-fold increase worldwide, led by Brazil whose early determination to diversify its transport fuel mix expanded to the whole region, followed by Mexico and Chile. All three countries are all in the list of top 10 largest renewable energy markets globally.3 Between 2012 and 2015, investments in renewables totaled around USD 54 billion
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accounting for around 25% of the energy supply which is roughly double the share of renewable energy in the United States.4
The predominance of hydropower was historically explained largely to the high share in Brazil, which generates 40% of total regional electricity - almost twice as much as Mexico. In the past five years, 75% to 80% of Brazil's electricity originated from hydro. The relative share of hydropower in total renewable capacity of Latin America has been steadily declining from 95% in 2000 to 83% in 2015. The reasons behind this decline can be found in both the high costs of installed capacity for hydro, and the impact of droughts. On the other hand, NCREs have increased installed capacity by more than triple between 2006 and 2015, from 10 GW to 36 GW.5
In terms of installed capacity...
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