The Sanchez Ceren administration is negotiating a contract with the Bolivian government for the purchase and sale of Liquefied Petroleum Gas in the medium term.
As part of the negotiations between governments the possibility is being considered of Yacimientos Petrolíferos de Bolivia (YPFB) "... participating in the marketing and distribution chain, in partnership with El Salvador's state owned company, said the Bolivian minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy, Luis Alberto Sanchez.
The government is working on a draft bill to regulate the distribution of energy generated from natural gas in the country.
At a time when investments in power generation projects based on natural gas in Panama and in the region are increasing, the head of the Panamanian Ministry of Energy has confirmed to Laestrella.com.pa that they are preparing the basis for a regulatory framework for the distribution of energy generated from gas.
The construction of the energy generation plant using natural gas by AES Colon will be financed with a syndicated loan from the CABEI, Banistmo, Bancolombia and other banks.
Those involved in the syndicated loan are Banistmo, Bancolombia, the Central American Economic Integration Banco General and Global Bank, reports Capital.com.pa. The plant, which will have the capacity to generate up to 381 MW of energy from natural gas, was announced in 2015 by the company AES Colon, who was awarded the contract to supply 350 MW of power.
The National Public Services Authority has revoked the final license granted to Panama NG Power for the construction and operation of a power plant in the province of Colón.
From the order given by the National Authority for Public Services in Panama (ASEP):
It is resolved:
"... FIRST: DECLARE CANCELED the Final License granted to the company NG POWER PANAMA, SA, registered in the Public Registry on Listing 691,187 of Document 1725036 of the Microfilm Section (Mercantile), by Resolution No.7333 AN-Elec of 6 May 2014, as amended by Resolution No.7369 AN-Elec on May 21, 2014, to develop a project for thermal generation using natural gas for electricity generation, called Telfers, to be located in the town of Cristobal, in the district and province of Colon, with an installed capacity of 670 MW. "
The company will sell power at 13/100 a kilowatt hour through a contract with a term from March 1, 2017 to February 29, 2036.
Prensa.com reports that "the company will sell power at 13 cents per kilowatt hour. This was the only offer received in the tender by Etesa whose parameters were criticized by business groups, after two addenda were included establishing that proposals could only be made by companies that posses a permanent or temporary license. "
The Panama company NG Power was the only bidder in the tender to generate electricity from natural gas for 20 years at a price of 8 cents per kilowatt hour.
"The prices are pretty good. We will take the necessary steps to make a final decision for the contracts," said Fernando Marciscano CEO of the Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica, S.A. (Etesa), while downplaying criticism of the bidding process in light of the fact that at last moment only temporarily or permanently licensed firms were allowed to participate, when the tender had originally been open," noted an article in Prensa.com .
The state fuel company Recope will begin importing natural gas within 6 months, to sell it to industrial clients.
According to Jorge Rojas, general manager of Recope, research is still being conducted over how many tons of gas will be brought into the country and at what prices it will be marketed locally.
The product will serve as an alternative for large scale energy consumers, who have seen their costs affected by the higher prices for the electricity in the country.
The regulator has still not issued an opinion on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted by Grupo Tomza to build a gas plant in Punta de Manabique.
The new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) presented by the company includes moving the location of the plant by about 500 meters to ensure that the impact on flora and fauna will be temporary and can be mitigated through forestation plans.