Through amendments to the law, the Panamanian government is aiming to improve conditions in the electricity market.
"The purchase of energy in the occasional market in Panama costs the state about $100 million annually, said the Secretary of Energy, Juan Urriola. Because of this, authorities have submitted to the National Assembly an amendment to the Law of February 6, 1997, which seeks to improve the national electricity market", reported PanamaAmerica.com.pa.
In view of the lack of future of the bill to modernize the electricity market in Costa Rica, a tender is being prepared for the supply of 200 MW under the current law.
The state-owned Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the giant of the national electricity market, still has the option of opening electricity generation projects that would produce about 196.1 MW in total, the government said.
By 2026, the country will generate 78% of its energy from renewable sources.
The changes proposed to the Generation System Expansion Plan 2012-2026 have already been approved by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM).
In 2012, it is is expected to generate 50.5% from hydroelectric sources, 3.6% from geothermal sources, 3.5% from bunker fuel, 12% from biomass, 9% from the electrical interconnection with Mexico and 21.3% from coal.
The non-enactment of the Regional Electricity Market Regulations (RMER) is preventing the Guatemalan hydroelectric station Xacbal from selling 30MW to a distributor in El Salvador.
On 1st January the Hydroelectric station Xacbal, part of the Terra Group, should have initiated the sale of 30MW to Salvadoran distributor CAESS, according to a contract signed by both companies in 2008.
Over the next 13 years the country needs to invest about $6,000 million in order to meet the demand for electricity.
About 3,000 megawatts will be needed to meet demand over the next five years, including about 600 MW currently being generated by plants based on bunker fuel, which are scheduled to be removed from the system.
In the next five years alone about $264 million will be invested in order to improve the transmission and distribution system, said Mario Zelaya, energy engineer.
Between 2013 and 2016 six contracts for thermal energy for 810 MW will expire, and consideration is being given to substituting them with renewable energy sources.
It will be the responsibility of the next government to decided what to do with these contracts, whether to renegotiate them or substitute them with ones for clean energy.
An article in El Heraldo analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of migrating to clean energy.
The Caribbean country will export propane and butane, among other things, in order to meet the growing demand for fuel
In order to increase trade relations with Panama, government representatives from Trinidad and Tobago visited the canal country, where business people and government officials discussed the possibility of selling energy and transmiting knowledge about this industry to the Panamanians.
This fund will cover the additional costs of buying electricity that the Esti hydroelectric plant is unable to produce.
The damage to the Esti hydroelectric dam, which is due to be operational again in May 2012, has forced Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica S.A to sign a trust agreement for $315 million with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
Electricity rates fluctuate according to the levels of the reservoirs in hydroelectric plants, affecting price and competitiveness.
In the wet season, the hydropower plants are able to generate enough to supply 59% of the country’s electricity demand, dropping to 20% during the dry season.
When there is a shortage of hydroelectric power, distributors turn to more expensive sources such as oil, coal and gas.
In Honduras, corporate spokespersons are objecting to the terms of a thermal generation electricity purchase agreement awarded by the ENEE to Westport Finance.
Among the criticisms of the contract for the purchase of thermal power authorized by the Executive on 28th September, are that the conditions regarding the time frame differ to those approved by the Council of Ministers for the procurement of 100 MW.
The bids submitted exceeded the maximum price, and 69.9 megawatts still remain to be awarded.
For the second time the full concession of 100 megawatts has not been awarded, an amount that is needed for the generation of more than 11% of El Salvador’s energy over the next two years.
The Superintendency of Electricity and Telecommunications (SIGET) will have to create a new tender for the missing amount, equivalent to 69.9 megawatts.
The Electric Transmission Company (ETSA) has published its first tender for the supply of wind power between 2014 and 2028.
Under the terms of the tender, bidders must submit proposals based on an equivalent energy power, according to the following table (the same for each year):
January - 61.63 GWh - 119MW
February - 56.11 GWh - 121MW
March - 59.46 GWh - 114MW
The National Electric Power Company has signed an agreement with the company pHp Energy International, for the generation of hydroelectric power in a portable manner.
A press release from the Presidency of the Republic of Honduras reads:
In the west of the country, an emergency has been declared, but with this firm, a valuable contribution has been attained which will overcome the problem for the population in that region.
A tender for the provision of 800 MW of electricity for the next 15 years has attracted companies producing energy using wind power, hydro power, biomass, bunker fuel, coal and natural gas.
Among the companies interested in the bidding which will take place in January 2012 are, Cutuco Energy, Italy's Enel, los ingenios Pantaleón, La Unión and Magdalena, among others, said Carlos Colom Bickford, president of the National Energy Commission (CNEE).