Water Supply and Sanitation
Bolivia’s water and sanitation coverage has greatly improved since 1990 due to a considerable increase in sectoral investment. However, the country continues to suffer from what happens to be the continent’s lowest coverage levels as well as from low quality of services. Political and institutional instability have contributed to the weakening of the sector’s institutions at the national and local levels.
Two concessions to foreign private companies in two of the three largest cities — Cochabamba and La Paz/El Alto — were prematurely ended in 2000 and 2006 respectively. The country’s second largest city, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, relatively successfully manages its own water and sanitation system by way of cooperatives.
The government of Evo Morales intends to strengthen citizen participation within the sector. Increasing coverage requires a substantial increase of investment financing.
According to the government the main problems in the sector are: low access to sanitation throughout the country; low access to water in rural areas; insufficient and ineffective investments; a low visibility of community service providers; a lack of respect of indigenous customs; “technical and institutional difficulties in the design and implementation of projects”; a lack of capacity to operate and maintain infrastructure; an institutional framework that is “not consistent with the political change in the country”; “ambiguities in the social participation schemes”; a reduction in the quantity and quality of water due to climate change; pollution and a lack of integrated water resources management; and the lack of policies and programs for the reuse of wastewater.
Electricity Supply and Demand
The electricity sector in Bolivia was privatized in the early 1990s and was unbundled into generation, transmission and distribution. The supply is dominated by thermal generation (60%), while hydropower (40%) has a smaller share in its generation mix compared to other South American countries (LAC average hydropower capacity is 51%.
The electricity coverage in rural areas is among the lowest in Latin America and improving it represents a major challenge in the future and requires the joint efforts from both the public and private sectors. Like in other countries, Bolivia’s electricity sector consists of National Interconnected System (SIN) and off-grid systems (known as the Aislado).
In Bolivia, the National Interconnected System (SIN) connects major population centers and represents 83% of the installed capacity. The SIN provides electricity to the largest cities and operates in the Departments of Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Oruro, Potosí and Chuquisaca. Its grid extends over 1,200 miles and covers the central and southern parts of the country.
The population in the northern and western parts of the country remains largely unconnected to the national grid, either served by the off-grid system (the Aislado) or having no access to electricity at all. The off-grid system consists of numerous self producers and independent power plants in rural or isolated areas.
Total installed capacity in 2006 was 1.43 GW, of which 60% was thermal production, which primarily burns natural gas, and 40% hydroelectric. The contribution of other renewables is almost negligible.[4] Total electricity production in the same year amounted to 5.29 TWh. This figure does not include electricity produced in rural areas from biomass facilities, which are unorganized, decentralized, and difficult to quantify.
Bolivia’s electricity export and import activities are fairly limited. Imports from Brazil amount to less than 0.01 TWh per year and have so far been devoted to supply the city of Puerto Suarez, in the Department of Santa Cruz.