The plan does not treat refining resilience as inconsistent with energy transition goals. Minister Fernanda Cardona framed the approach as linking energy transformation with industrial development, quality employment and territorial decentralization. She identified adding value and decarbonizing transport and industry as core policy challenges through 2050, positioning the transition not only as a shift in energy sources but as an opportunity to build new industrial activities around emerging fuels.
Uruguay’s electricity matrix, dominated by renewable sources, provides the foundation for green hydrogen and derivative products including e-fuels, the ministry analysis notes. These industrial activities will not necessarily concentrate in the same locations as traditional manufacturing, with the plan recognizing distinct territorial clusters tied to agroindustrial, forestry, manufacturing and logistics capabilities across regions.
For service station networks, the outlook implies a reconfiguration of revenue sources and infrastructure investment priorities over coming decades. Liquid fuel sales currently drive station economics, but electric vehicle penetration is already reshaping demand patterns in specific segments and zones. State utility UTE plans to double charging points in Rocha department to 60 units before year-end and aims for 1,000 public charging locations nationally by 2027, up from 531 active points across all 19 departments today. UTE recorded 130,344 charging sessions in the past 30 days, an 82% increase year-over-year.
The charging network expansion occurs as electric vehicles reached 68% of new zero-kilometer car sales in August 2026, according to UTE general manager Luis García. Most users charge at home using triple-rate residential tariffs that significantly reduce operating costs versus fossil fuels during off-peak hours, though public infrastructure remains essential for work and tourism travel. The energy transition roadmap suggests station operators will need to develop new capabilities to serve diversified demand and markets increasingly shaped by decarbonization policy, with potential roles in both conventional fuel distribution and emerging energy vector deployment remaining under evaluation.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
