In view of the possibility of energy rationing for the summer season in Honduras, businesspeople are calling for the tender processes for the supply of electricity to be speeded up.
As a result of the debt that the National Electric Energy Company has with the generators, the business sector fears that in 2020 there will be rationing in the supply of electricity.
For the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (Cohep), it urges that the Honduran government cancel the debt to the power generators, which totals about $568 million. If the obligations are not paid, severe service rationing could be reported in the middle of next year, according to productive sector forecasts.
The guild is demanding the government to open up the market in order to allow companies to buy energy from abroad and reduce dependence on state power supplies.
The private sector is seeking to solve the energy crisis in Honduras by asking for regulation to be made flexible in order to allow direct import of energy for companies.
Emin Jorge Abufele, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cortés (CCIC), told Laprensa.hn: "...
Because of problems in power plants the capacity for energy supply has been reduced from 1,400 MW to 1,200 MW, not enough to meet demand which now reaches 1,375 MW.
The energy crisis in Honduras has already forced the ENEE to ration the supply of energy in order to supply the entire country, albeit intermittently. There is currently a shortfall of about 200 MW to meet growing demand.
In 2013 63% of the electrical energy fed into the transmission networks in the region was generated from renewable sources.
From a report entitled "Central America: production statistics for the electricity subsector, 2013", prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC):
"... The production of electricity in the six countries amounted to 45,735 GWh, 3.3% higher than in 2012.
The National Electricity Company will purchase 50 megawatts in order to meet the shortfall and avoid blackouts.
Although it goes against the renewable energy policy presented by President Lobo, authorities at the National Electricity Company (ENEE), said there is no alternative but to buy thermal energy from private generators.
This purchase will be made at 0.26 cents per kilowatt, and will have no impact on consumer prices, as explained by representatives of ENEE.
The plan approved by the Council of Ministers includes the implementation of special times in public offices and multi-hourly rates among others.
The program includes energy audits at state agencies in order to establish benchmarks for savings, the implementation of multi-hourly rates and a new tariff schedule.
It also includes traffic management plans to be implemented by municipal authorities.