Energy Modernisation and Regional Reorganisation of the Southern Andes: The Unexpected Materialities of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline

Since 2004, gas operations in Camisea have been restructuring the Peruvian energy system. The pivot of Peruvian energy production has shifted from the high mountains and their water resources to the Andean foothills, and a vast political programme of gas network construction and gas massification wa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nina Montes de Oca, Sébastien Velut
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut de Géographie Alpine 2021-12-01
Series:Revue de Géographie Alpine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rga/9465
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841546801749950464
author Nina Montes de Oca
Sébastien Velut
author_facet Nina Montes de Oca
Sébastien Velut
author_sort Nina Montes de Oca
collection DOAJ
description Since 2004, gas operations in Camisea have been restructuring the Peruvian energy system. The pivot of Peruvian energy production has shifted from the high mountains and their water resources to the Andean foothills, and a vast political programme of gas network construction and gas massification was launched in the mid-2000s. This article aims to question the materiality of the energy change implemented in the Southern Andean region of the country, which does not involve renewable energy, but has crystallised around a gas pipeline project and its outcomes (thermal power plants, urban networks, etc.). From an interpretive framework articulating notions of development imaginaries with a critical approach of the materiality of energy modernisation, this article builds its analysis drawing from a variety of sources that combine field work and the vast number of documents published on the project in order to map energy change in this region, and the values associated to it. While the symbolic object of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline is presented in discourses as the triumphant advent of energy modernisation in which the State is the central actor, it has given rise to fragmented energy materialities, and a distorted energy change, moving away from its primary social goal.
format Article
id doaj-art-5d92646af20048609403446e6e3bfb04
institution Kabale University
issn 0035-1121
1760-7426
language English
publishDate 2021-12-01
publisher Institut de Géographie Alpine
record_format Article
series Revue de Géographie Alpine
spelling doaj-art-5d92646af20048609403446e6e3bfb042025-01-10T15:54:01ZengInstitut de Géographie AlpineRevue de Géographie Alpine0035-11211760-74262021-12-01109310.4000/rga.9465Energy Modernisation and Regional Reorganisation of the Southern Andes: The Unexpected Materialities of the Southern Peruvian Gas PipelineNina Montes de OcaSébastien VelutSince 2004, gas operations in Camisea have been restructuring the Peruvian energy system. The pivot of Peruvian energy production has shifted from the high mountains and their water resources to the Andean foothills, and a vast political programme of gas network construction and gas massification was launched in the mid-2000s. This article aims to question the materiality of the energy change implemented in the Southern Andean region of the country, which does not involve renewable energy, but has crystallised around a gas pipeline project and its outcomes (thermal power plants, urban networks, etc.). From an interpretive framework articulating notions of development imaginaries with a critical approach of the materiality of energy modernisation, this article builds its analysis drawing from a variety of sources that combine field work and the vast number of documents published on the project in order to map energy change in this region, and the values associated to it. While the symbolic object of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline is presented in discourses as the triumphant advent of energy modernisation in which the State is the central actor, it has given rise to fragmented energy materialities, and a distorted energy change, moving away from its primary social goal.https://journals.openedition.org/rga/9465developmentAndesenergy transitionmaterialitygas pipelinemodernisation
spellingShingle Nina Montes de Oca
Sébastien Velut
Energy Modernisation and Regional Reorganisation of the Southern Andes: The Unexpected Materialities of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline
Revue de Géographie Alpine
development
Andes
energy transition
materiality
gas pipeline
modernisation
title Energy Modernisation and Regional Reorganisation of the Southern Andes: The Unexpected Materialities of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline
title_full Energy Modernisation and Regional Reorganisation of the Southern Andes: The Unexpected Materialities of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline
title_fullStr Energy Modernisation and Regional Reorganisation of the Southern Andes: The Unexpected Materialities of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline
title_full_unstemmed Energy Modernisation and Regional Reorganisation of the Southern Andes: The Unexpected Materialities of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline
title_short Energy Modernisation and Regional Reorganisation of the Southern Andes: The Unexpected Materialities of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline
title_sort energy modernisation and regional reorganisation of the southern andes the unexpected materialities of the southern peruvian gas pipeline
topic development
Andes
energy transition
materiality
gas pipeline
modernisation
url https://journals.openedition.org/rga/9465
work_keys_str_mv AT ninamontesdeoca energymodernisationandregionalreorganisationofthesouthernandestheunexpectedmaterialitiesofthesouthernperuviangaspipeline
AT sebastienvelut energymodernisationandregionalreorganisationofthesouthernandestheunexpectedmaterialitiesofthesouthernperuviangaspipeline