With the new law access will be given funding to promote technology changes that generate cost reductions and savings in energy consumption.
A statement from the Ministry of Energy and Mines reads:
MEM and CNEE drive Energy Efficiency Act project
In a workshop organized by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), and the National Energy Commission (CNEE), with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) and the Latin American Electric Power Organization (OLADE) a roadmap has been established in the discussion of the Comprehensive Plan for Energy Efficiency and the Energy Efficiency Act of Guatemala.
In order to meet the demand for electricity in the next few years, which will grow at 6% per annum, $3 billion will be invested.
An article in Prensalibre.com reports that Vicente Prescott, national secretary of Energy, said that in Panama "electricity demand will grow, on average, 6 percent a year over the next few years, so $3 billion will be invested in order to meet this increase. "
Guatemala plans to acquire an additional 30 MW of power from its northern neighbor, which may also export to other Central American countries.
A statement from the Ministry of Energy in Mexico reads:
The Ministry of Energy in Mexico and the Ministry of Energy and Mines in the Republic of Guatemala have signed a letter of intent in which they set out, in good faith and in a non-binding way, a general framework for cooperation in the energy sector.
As legislative deadlines came and went, seven bills proposing updates to the electricity sector’s regulatory framework were shelved.
Plans to reform the electricity system have been postponed indefinitely following the expiry of the mandate of the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly’s special committee, whose members stopped convening last November, reported Elfinancierocr.com.
Honduran businessmen are warning about the economic impact of these factors and the problems facing the National Electricity Company (ENEE).
Both representatives of MSMEs as well as large enterprises agree that high electricity tariffs and the effect of outages are affecting companies financial situations.
Juan José Lagos, from Fundación Covelo, said that in the case of MSMEs the ENEE’s policies are having a double effect on the sector, with payments of up to 30.6% more for energy billed for fuel adjustments, and with scheduled and unscheduled blackouts.
JICA, the Japanese Cooperation Agency, will finance a series of studies to develop a renewable energy master plan.
This cooperation agreement will be useful for identifying places and sources of alternative energy. They will consider geothermal, hydraulic, sun and wind energy, among others.
Luis Reyes, executive secretary of the CNE (National Energy Council), told Elsalvador.com that “the nation’s energy policy will be ready by May 2010, and will eventually include the results of these studies, which will define how to diversify the country’s energy matrix over the next 15 years”.
Duke Energy International, from the US, will build an 85 Mw carbon based, electric generation plant in Escuintla, Guatemala.
Construction works were inaugurated this Friday by the President of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom, who placed the first stone and stated that the new plant is a part of the Government's 4-year energy plan launched on January 14.
The IDB has announced that it will invest $145 million in the transmission and rehabilitation of electric plants in Central America, an operation to which Mexico and Colombia may also be added.
The program will be complemented with actions in the field of transmission, transformation and generation, in order to ensure that the greatest trust in the system in not only in its ability to provide more a great availability of energy, but also in guaranteed quality of distribution.