The evolution, consolidation and future challenges of wind energy in Uruguay

Within a 20-year timeframe, Uruguay transitioned from being a hydro and thermal energy-dependent country to one of the world's leaders in wind energy, including a vast surplus capacity enabling energy exports to its neighbors. Even though the country presents one of the best examples of a successful implementation of clear and sound energy policy, it is still little known overseas. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to describe the evolution and consolidation of wind energy in the country, but also to point out the key future challenges the country will face. For such, we rely on data collected from interviews with experts and relevant policy actors in Uruguay, which had direct exposure to the wind energy policy. We made use of qualitative coding, topic modeling, and sentiment analysis as methodological approaches. Our results point to four key aspects that led to the success of the implementation of wind energy: public policies, market and actors, development and mechanisms, and niche-to-regime growth. Uruguay's main future challenges relate to how to keep up with new investments, mostly in other renewable technologies, while simultaneously keeping up with the know-how developed in the wind sector. The paper ends with some key lessons for public policy makers.