With its plentiful supply of green electricity, Uruguay has the potential to be a leader in both the use of electric vehicles and the production of batteries.

The majority of its annual electricity supply is from renewable sources already, and this opens opportunities for the manufacture of low carbon batteries for use in electric vehicles, and means the electricity used to charge EVs is not derived from fossil fuels.

Cenex worked with Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mining of Uruguay (MIEM) and the British Embassy in Montevideo to conduct a series of workshops that support Uruguay in its transition towards EV and becoming a regional leader.

The workshops assessed e-mobility policies and chargepoint infrastructure with examples from Cenex’s previous experiences in the UK and internationally.

Keith Budden, Head of Business Development at Cenex, said: “Cenex were delighted to be asked by the UK Embassy to develop a learning exchange programme on zero emission vehicles with the Government of Uruguay.

“We believe that Uruguay, with its plentiful supply of green electricity, has the potential to be a leader in both the use of electric vehicles and the manufacture of low carbon batteries for use in electric vehicles.”

Faye O’Connor, HM Ambassador, British Embassy Montevideo, said: “Uruguay has a strong commitment with climate change actions and draws up to 98% of its annual electricity supply from renewable sources already.

“During COP26 Uruguay signed the Zero Emissions Vehicles Declaration and today the country is undertaking the second energy transition, focusing on sustainable mobility and hydrogen to lower emissions in the transport and Industry sectors.

“We are grateful to Cenex for exchanging knowledge and lessons learnt with officials from different government institutions working on sustainable mobility.

“The series of workshops have helped Uruguay develop and test their soon to be launched ‘National Strategy on Sustainable Mobility’ – and will help them deliver on their ambition to champion a low carbon development pathway.”

Silvia Emaldi, President of UTE, Uruguay, said: “At UTE we lead a sustainable path towards decarbonization for a more natural Uruguay, promoting development (transformation) towards electric mobility.

“We thank the Embassy of the United Kingdom and Cenex, for sharing knowledge, experiences and lessons learned on the development of its Transport Decarbonization Plan, which will allow us to validate and enrich our actions and thus provide the best service for the well-being and development of Uruguay.”

Fitzgerald Cantero, National Director of Energy, Uruguay, said: “Uruguay is moving towards the second energy transition, where the transformation towards sustainable mobility with a focus on electromobility is today the alternative, and which is promoted from MIEM through incentives, regulations and joint work with the public and private sectors.

“We appreciate the support of the British Embassy in Uruguay in the development of these workshops and Cenex for sharing its experience in the development of electric mobility policies and infrastructure development.”