The Regional Energy Integration Commission (CIER), together with Quantum America, will launch the CIER 14 Phase III International Benchmarking Study on Electricity Generation next Thursday, March 5. This initiative aims to identify gaps in costs, productivity, and technical performance within the generation fleet of Latin America and the Caribbean. The launch will take place during a free, virtual regional webinar, starting at 12:00 PM ARG, marking the formal beginning of a new benchmarking phase for the generation segment. This occurs within a context characterized by energy transition, pressure on margins, and increasing competition in electricity markets. "The electricity generation sector in Latin America and the Caribbean is undergoing a profound transformation driven by the energy transition, increasing competition in electricity markets, and the pressure to maximize asset profitability," stated Daniel Konig, Benchmarking Project Manager, in an interview with Energía Estratégica . In this context, he maintains that having a rigorous comparative tool becomes strategic.
"The CIER 14 Phase III allows companies to accurately understand their relative positioning in terms of costs, productivity, and technical performance, identifying specific gaps and opportunities compared to regional peers with comparable technological configurations," he explains. The new phase incorporates a methodological update aligned with the technological evolution of the regional power generation fleet. This has resulted in refined segmentation criteria, structural cost disaggregation, and indicator definitions, enabling more granular analysis by technology, including hydroelectric, conventional thermal, and combined cycle, among others, and by operational scale. "One of the main innovations of this phase is the deepening of the overall process analysis," Konig noted. Through the breakdown into macro-processes of Administration, Operation, and Maintenance (AOM), the study "will allow us to identify and quantify relative cost overruns compared to the most efficient companies in each technological segment." The indicators evaluated include generation efficiency (plant factor or capacity), operational availability, operation and maintenance costs per MWh and per MW installed, productivity per employee, maintenance hours per unit generated, and technical reliability metrics such as failure rates and mean recovery times. "Comparability is ensured with homogeneous definitions for each indicator, technical manuals, data validation, and segmentation by technology type and plant size," emphasizes the Benchmarking Project Manager, guaranteeing that the differences detected reflect actual performance and not methodological inconsistencies.
Benchmarking with a Direct Impact on Strategic Decisions: Beyond comparing indicators, the study is designed as a management tool that directly impacts strategic and operational decisions such as redesigning O&M structures, optimizing staffing levels, defining maintenance policies, and outsourcing strategies, among others. Although specific benchmarking in generation had not been recently developed within the CIER framework, experiences in distribution (CIER 17 Phase III) and transmission (CIER 11 Phase VII) revealed significant differences between companies with comparable technologies. "Both studies identified relevant gaps in unit costs, availability levels, and productivity between companies with comparable technologies," recalls Konig, demonstrating the potential for structural improvement that can be captured through rigorous comparative analysis. In an energy transition context, operational efficiency takes on an even more critical dimension."The energy transition increases the operational complexity of the electrical system," the executive warns.
The increased penetration of variable renewables requires flexibility, reliability, and adaptation of cost and maintenance structures.
Along these lines, the manager emphasizes that "operational efficiency becomes a key enabler for sustaining competitiveness in this new environment," where digitalization and asset optimization are crucial. From a regional perspective, the initiative also contributes to sector integration and, with a commitment to continuity, the project aims to become a permanent practice in order to monitor trends, evaluate the impact of operational changes, and measure the evolution of efficiency. The presentation on March 5 will delve deeper into these methodological and strategic aspects, demonstrating how to transform technical and operational information into actionable decisions. As Konig summarizes, "The CIER 14 Phase III Project is a strategic tool that transforms technical and operational information into actionable comparative knowledge to improve the competitiveness of the electricity generation sector in Latin America and the Caribbean."