Does Uruguay have a renewable power grid?

Well, the South American country of Uruguay has successfully done it. In an average year, 98% of the energy used to run its power grid comes from renewable sources - hydropower, biomass, solar and lots of wind. Erika Beras from the Planet Money team interviews the architect of the plan that made this possible.

Does Uruguay have a wind power auction?

In 2009, Uruguay started holding auctions in which different wind companies from around the world came to bid on how cheaply they'd sell renewable energy to the country. In 2011, Uruguay held an auction intended to secure 150 megawatts of new wind power, which would have represented about 5% of the country's energy generating capacity.

Should Uruguay switch to green electricity?

Uruguay, one of South America’s smallest countries, is attracting outsized attention over its transition to green electricity. It didn’t happen simply by building a bunch of wind and solar farms, the architect of the strategy said, but by rethinking the entire energy system. And, he said, other countries could do that too.

Does Uruguay have a wind project?

The wind project in Uruguay didn't suffer from those, but it does have some critics. In the last 12 years, the price for wind energy has gone down. It's now 30 to 40% cheaper than it was then. But the utility companies signed contracts that locked in those higher rates for 20 years.