Avoiding the generation of power using fossil fuels is a necessary goal, but alleviating the energy poverty in which millions of Central Americans find themselves is a priority.
EDITORIAL
Bjorn Lomborg's article published in Laprensagrafica.com analyzes the difficult choice between taking measures to prevent global warming, and facilitating the use of cheap fossil fuels -carbon- for 1,200 million poor people in the world.
The company states that the terms of the contract do not provide sufficient legal certainty for an investment which would have been in the region of $450 million.
"IC Power regrets that it does not see the right conditions to bid to invest of $450 million in a 170 MW plant in the 20 year tender for the supply of 355MW," explained the company.
According to the company, the entities responsible for the tender are not providing sufficient legal stability, which for them is crucial when making the decision to invest.
Cenérgica is planning to build in El Salvador a coal power generation plant, which would produce about 150 megawatts.
However, according to Ricardo Hernandez, CEO of Cenérgica, execution of the project planned by the company IC Power, part of Israel Corporation Limited (IC) will depend on the suitability of the tender conditions for the contract for the long-term supply of 350 MW .
The ban on power plants based on coal, natural gas or any petroleum product is unreasonable and constitutes an obstacle to development.
In April last year, the municipalities of La Union and Conchagua issued an "Ordinance on the Environment", which expressly prohibited the installation of power plants based on coal, liquefied natural gas or any derivation of hydrocarbons.
The construction of a coal-based power generation plant, which was scheduled to open early this year, could be delayed further.
The plant is located on land near La Unión Port and runs the risk of not even being built, depending on the outcome of the tender.
Daniel Choto wrote in an article in Elsalvador.com: "It all depends on the outcome of an international tender that energy distributors have published in order to purchase 320 Mega Watts of power in the form of long-term contracts, said the chairperson of AES Group. It all depends, he said, on the outcome of the tender. If the group’s company that would be bidding wins, construction would have to begin immediately, once the pending municipal permits are obtained, he said."
The cost of the coal plant that the AES Fonseca company will build at the future La Union Port will be some $600 million.
The cost of construction, which is slated to start at the end of January or early February, increased due to high steel prices, according to Neil Watlington, AES Fonseca director.
AES has already found international financial institutions that are interested in the electric energy project.