About $200 million is estimated to be invested in improvements to the Central American network, both nationally and regionally, to avoid the recurrence of service interruptions that occurred days ago.
On September 16, a power failure in Honduras caused the interruption of the service of approximately 40% of the area that make up the Central American countries that are interconnected.
In the country, the business sector expects an increase in operating costs in the coming months, as a result of the expected increase in the price of electricity in the short term.
Electricity generators claim that the Regional Operator Entity arbitrarily disconnects Guatemala from the rest of the countries in the region, and that since 2016 up to date the disconnections already add up to 600 hours.
The National Association of Generators of Guatemala (ANG) claims that the Regional Electricity Interconnection Commission (CRIE) does not comply with the resolutions of the Central American Court of Justice (CCJ), which ordered Guatemala to stop disconnections from the regional electricity system.
In the first three months of 2019, 14 environmental impact studies were presented in the countries of the region to perform work on electricity grids and develop power generation plants.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, includes an up to date list of public and private construction projects for which environmental impact studies (EIA) were submitted to the respective institutions of each country.
The construction of a thermoelectric plant in Panama, a food processing plant in Costa Rica and a vertical residential complex in Guatemala are part of the projects planned for the coming months in the region.
The interactive system "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, includes an up to date list of public and private construction projects that are expected to be built in the coming months.
Since June 1, there has been a 3% increase in the average selling price to the final consumer in the country, going from the cost per megawatt of $219.8 reported in March to $226.5 from this month.
The increase was officialized in La Gaceta on June 18 and the new price per megawatt is applied to each tier that makes up the tariff sheet, which includes residential, commercial, industrial and irrigation tariffs.
Nicaraguan companies in the industrial sector pay between $0.20 and $0.22 per kWh, while in other Central American countries the price ranges between $0.11 and $0.18 per kWh.
Data from a regional energy study by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the Central American Isthmus (Fecamco) reveal that for the industrial sector in Guatemala it pays the least for electricity and that of Nicaragua it assumes the highest costs in the region.
After several years of carrying out studies of the work, the governments announced that they plan to begin working on the standardization of regulations to sign the agreement of the electrical interconnection project.
In a press release published on March 19, Panama's Presidency stated that Panama's Energy Secretary, Victor Urrutia, informed that the Agreement required for the implementation of the electric interconnection project that will link the Andean and Central American systems will soon be signed.
The National Electric Transmission Company tenders the construction of networks and installation of primary distribution networks in different regions of the country.
Nicaragua Government Purchase 1/2019:
"The contract consists of the construction of Primary and Secondary Distribution Networks in 72 energy areas with 1,230 projects distributed in the Managua Sector with 43 projects, Western Sector with 16 projects, Southern Sector with 10 projects, Northern Sector with 3 projects, grouped in six (6) lots respectively.
During 2018, the country registered exports of electric energy for $181 million, 76% more than reported in 2017, and its main buyers were El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico.
The most recent data from the Bank of Guatemala show that last year Guatemala sold $119 million in electricity to El Salvador, $37 million to Honduras, $1.2 million to Nicaragua and $930,000 to Costa Rica.
National Electric Energy Company of Honduras tenders at international level the supply of electrical energy and solid capacity of 17 MW.
Honduras Government Purchase LPI-031-2018:
"Announces the International Public Tender to contract 17MW of solid capacity and its associated energy in a block, for up to twelve (12) months. This is because of the operating condition of the eastern zone that is fed through a 150 km line at a voltage of 69 kV from the Santa Fe Substation in Tegucigalpa.
The new price sheet that has been in force since January establishes that consumers with residential, commercial or industrial tariffs will pay 3.28% more than in 2018.
Arguing that generation and distribution prices increased because of the "behavior of fuel prices," along with inflation reported by the local economy, the Nicaraguan Energy Institute (INE) decided to increase the electricity price.
From January to November last year, the country exported $165 million in electricity to Mexico and Central America, 73% more than in the same period in 2017.
The Report of the Monetary, Exchange and Credit Policy of the Banco de Guatemala, details that the energy exportations are mainly caused by the investments made in the electricity transmission network of the country, which has allowed satisfying the increase of the demand coming from El Salvador and Honduras.
In the first nine months of 2018, 33 environmental impact studies were presented in the countries of the region to develop energy generating plants and work on electricity grids.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, includes an up to date list of public and private construction projects for which environmental impact studies (EIA) were submitted to the respective institutions of each country.
In a new attempt, the authorities of the Regional Electricity Market announced the beginning of the feasibility study for the creation of a market through which electricity can be commercialized between Central America and the North American country.
Currently, Guatemala is the only country in the Northern Triangle that directly commercializes energy with counterparts in the Mexican market.