Globaldata expects Peru’s renewable energy sector to face downside risk in the short to medium term amid prolonged political instability caused by a continuous change in the presidency and the upcoming April 2026 election. On 17 February 2026, Peru’s Congress voted to remove President José Jerí from office, ahead of the general elections set for 12 April 2026. Peru’s Congress passed a censure motion against José Jerí, voting 75 to 24 on 17 February 2026, a move taken four months after he took office as interim president in October 2025. This made him the third consecutive President and seventh to be ousted since 2016. The primary reason for his removal is driven by his failure to reveal clandestine late-night meetings with Chinese businessman Zhihua Yang held at various restaurants. The political scandal—called “Chifa-gate” in Peru, referencing Chinese-rooted Peruvian food that prompted the Attorney General’s Office to launch an investigation into Jerí earlier in February 2026.
In October 2025, Peru’s lawmakers wanted the incumbent President, Boluarte, to appear at a Congress session to defend herself, but she did not attend the meeting. In the same month, the Congress passed the impeachment against her, and Peruvian Congress leader Jose Jeri assumed the presidency, pledging to serve until July 2026. Jerí got off to a promising start earlier in his tenure by mirroring El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele’s anti-crime strategy, which resonated widely and drove high early approval. Unfortunately, his cronyism became apparent. This resulted in Jerí serving only four months as president before his ouster, having replaced Dina Boluarte after her impeachment in October 2025.
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On 18 February 2026, Peru’s Congress elected former judge and member of the leftist Perú Libre party, José María Balcázar, as the new interim president to lead the country until the July 2026 inauguration of a new elected leader. The next general elections are scheduled to be held in Peru on 12 April 2026. The president is elected using the two-round system. The first-round voting allows eligible voters to vote for any eligible presidential candidate; later, the top two candidates who receive a plurality of the vote proceed to the run-off election. If no presidential candidate gets over 50% of the vote, a runoff will take place on 7 June 2026. Although Balcázar’s term will remain brief and limited in scope until the presidential election winner assumes the presidential office in July 2026, it will be challenging for him to show his mettle. On a positive note, in his inauguration speech on 18 February 2026, he pledged to deliver a fair and transparent election process, bolster democracy, combat crime and promote economic growth.
Considering the general elections in April 2026, Peru’s political situation remains highly volatile and fragmented. Moreover, recent polls indicate that no candidate will reach the 50% threshold required for an outright victory in April 2026, leading to a second-round runoff between the top two finishers. Moreover, the continuous changes in the presidency and the upcoming April 2026 elections are expected to affect the business environment and institutional effectiveness in the country. In the short term, Peru’s renewable energy sector is expected to experience significant uncertainty, owing to Peru’s interim Presidency, affecting the launch of new clean energy tenders scheduled for 2026. An estimated 44.2bn new sol ($12bn) worth of solar and wind power projects will remain on hold, affecting project timelines. In early February 2026, the government named a new power vice minister, called Pereira, tasking him with unlocking the 44.2bn new sol ($12bn) investment pipeline of solar and wind power projects bogged down by major regulatory delays. The move could be pivotal for the future of Peru’s renewable energy sector. The pipeline involves a total power capacity of 10GW of renewable energy projects. In addition, changes in the presidency are reducing the possibility of getting approval of a clear regulatory framework, which can allow the projects to progress.
In short, the country is gearing up for the presidential election scheduled on 12 April 2026, and the outcome can either accelerate or complicate the path for these projects. These uncertainties are casting a shadow over the renewable energy sector and are slowing down the energy transition process. Also, prolonged delays in getting approval for any project can drive cost escalations. The uncertainties might further undermine the confidence of both foreign and local investors in undertaking any new renewable energy projects in Peru. This can cause Peru to fail in meeting the target to generate 32% of its energy using renewable sources by 2030, with 30% share of wind and solar in the power mix by 2030. Notably, according to GlobalData’s Power Intelligence Center, as of 2024, renewable energy sources (wind, solar and biopower) accounted for 10.4% of Peru’s energy mix.
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By GlobalData