Local authorities announced plans to build in the province of Colon the Gatun Generating Station, an energy complex that will operate with liquefied natural gas and will require a $1,000 million investment.
The morning of June 1, President Laurentino Cortizo Cohen explained that this project will require a foreign investment from Group Energy Gas Panama, a consortium formed by InterEnergy Group and AES Panama.
The electric power generation plant based on liquefied natural gas has started operating in Colón, Panama, with an installed capacity of 381 MW.
The plant, whose construction beganin May 2016, has three generators, three gas turbines and one steam turbine, giving it a total installed capacity of 381 MW.
"...The AES Colón project consists of two stages.The first is the LNG plant and the second comprises a storage tank that is currently 87% complete and is expected to come into operation next year in 2019, explained Miguel Bolinaga, president of AES in Panama, a mixed capital company in which the Panamanian State has a 50.5% share."
After requesting an extension to postpone the date of entry into operations, authorities at AES Panama confirmed that the plant will begin operations on September 1.
Construction of the plant started in May 2016 and will have three generators, three gas turbines and one steam turbine, reaching a total installed capacity of 381 MW.
Energía del Pacífico has announced the signing of a contract for the purchase and sale of natural gas with Shell International Trading Middle East for the planned power generation plant to be built in Acajutla.
The company Energía del Pacífico (EDP), which obtained the contract to build and operate a 378 MW power plant in the port area of Acajutla, announced the contract with Shell, ending a long process that began in the middle of 2015, when the tender for the supply of liquefied natural gas was announced.
Changes in the legal framework of the concession granted to Pacific Energy to supply 355 MW to be generated with natural gas, have forced a postponement of its entry into operation until at least 2021.
The Superintendency of Electricity has authorized an extension for the company Pacific Energy to start supplying power two years later than originally planned, according to the concession that was granted after winning the tender to supply 355 MW of energy based on natural gas, in 2013. See: "El Salvador: $1 billion Gas Plant Announced"
Two social welfare institutions are considering whether to invest $90 million in gas generation plants to sell electricity to the National Electric Power Company.
In order to cover the increased demand which arises in seasons of highest energy consumption, the National Institute of Retirement and Pensions for Employees and Officials of the Executive Branch (INJUPEMP) and the Honduran Social Security Institute are considering investing in power generation based on gas. The investment would mean allocating about $90 million to the purchase of mobile plants to sell supplies to the National Electric Power Company.
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. "
An environmental impact study has been presented for the construction of a plant for power generation based on natural gas called Tocumen, in the province of Panama.
The company SoEnergy S. de RL Panama has presented an environmental impact study for the construction and operation of a power generation plant based on natural gas in the village of Tocumen, district of Panama, province of Panama.
Like the entire private sector, the Association of Free Zones of Costa Rica is complaining about the high cost of electricity and lack of concrete actions to resolve the situation.
Before considering Petrocaribe, companies operating under this regime in Costa Rica are suggesting a further diversification of the energy matrix in order to lower costs.
The oil company Perenco has completed construction of a plant capable of generating 12 MW using oil-based fuel and 2 MW using natural gas.
Using the power plant for the business operation, the company´s projection is to "... save nearly $6 million in the cost of oil production per year."
Prensalibre.com reports that "...this plant was constructed with high-tech equipment and consists of a 12 MW generator powered by fuel oil and combustible oil, waste from oil distillation, and it produces 2 MW from natural gas, a resource produced from the oil. "
Companies from the sector are to meet on February 13 in Santo Domingo at a Forum on the panorama for natural gas in the Caribbean.
On Feb. 13 A "Forum on the Panorama for Natural Gas in the Caribbean" will be held in the Dominican Republic. During the event the prospects for natural gas in the Caribbean basin will be analyzed in terms of energy security, economic development and the role of natural gas as a cleaner source of energy for countries in the region.
The consortium Quantum-GLU would be the winner of a long-term contract to supply 335 MW generated from a power plant that would be built by the company.
A statement from the National Energy Board reads:
The electricity distribution company DELSUR has made public the financial bids offered by two companies who submitted documents for the tender for 355 megawatts (MW) of power and associated energy, namely: Asocio Quantum-GLU and AES Fonseca Energía, who on October 1 submitted the information required to participate in the tender for the supply of power for 20 years.
Johnny Araya , candidate for the ruling party, has proposed a tax package aimed at improving collections and gas exploration to boost new energy sources.
Araya proposes the creation of the National Tax Administration Agency in order to combat tax evasion and improve tax collection. According to him , the fiscal deficit is affecting governance and competitiveness.
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 .