When the US President Barack Obama visited Central America in 2013, he warned that "energy costs in this region are three times what electricity costs in Washington, and that represents a huge disadvantage for companies".Two years before that, all countries, from Guatemala to Panama, were committed to creating the necessary infrastructure for the Regional Electricity Market (MER) to be efficient.

See: "Energy: Central America can not make long - term contracts"

But at this moment energy integration has two obstacles: the limited infrastructure to transmit renewable energy, and the "local" use that some countries are giving to transmission lines. According to analysis by Elfinancierocr.com, "... the promise to share at least 300 MW of power remains on paper: countries such as Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras use transmission lines in the system to distribute power internally within their own borders".

See: "The electricity that Central America Needs"

"... The situation not only limits the ability to share electricity with other countries, but slows down the development of new projects such as the incorporation of variable energy (solar and wind) into the market" continues the report. Because of this, although the Interamerican Development Bank has already funded $250 million for half of the interconnection, the 300 MW of power from MER may not materialize until 2019.

Source: elfinancierocr.com

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