The Energy Ministry of Guatemala has authorized Enel to perform the necessary studies for the installation of a Thermal Generating station in Totonicapán.
Enel of Guatemala has received an endorsement from the Ministry of Energy and Mines to conduct exploratory studies and measurements for the generation, transmission and distribution of energy, for the installation of a Geothermal Generating station in Totonicapan.
Prohibition of geothermal power generation in protected areas would be lifted by the two presidential candidates who are leading the polls.
Johnny Araya of the National Liberation Party (PLN by its initials in Spanish) and José María Villalta from the Broad Front (Frente Amplio) party, said they would allow the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) to explore geothermal energy in the Rincón de la Vieja National Park in Guanacaste.
The government of Nicaragua is exploring funding options for the development of a plan for taking advantage of the country's geothermal potential.
The plan is to conduct studies on the potential of this kind of generation and offer the project to private investors. "We are in talks with financial institutions to see if we can get funding for such studies, to encourage and develop geothermal energy," said Lorena Lanza, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines.
The Italian consortium Enel has filed a case against the Salvadoran State with the ICSID over a dispute on equity interest in the geothermal plant.
The case was filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The lawsuit, according to the company, is due to the government trying to be more involved in LaGeo, and also because they believe they have been denied their legitimate rights.
After an initial phase of exploration in Chinameca, San Miguel, LaGeo is to start feasibility studies for a 50 MW plant.
"The whole project takes four years from drilling up until it is exploited, depending on the soil type you have. We believe that it will be functioning by 2016 or 2017," said the president of the geothermal power generation company (LaGeo), Julio Valdivieso.
With an investment of $1.5 billion El Salvador could add 440 MW to the 204 MW already produced with geothermal energy sources.
The projections were made by Julio Valdivieso, president of the company LaGeo . Furthermore, Toshitaka Takeuchi, energy specialist at the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), said El Salvador could generate up to 644 megawatts (440 megawatts more than it already has as installed capacity).
LaGeo could exploit geothermal energy in a new well located in San Vicente, generating 30 to 40 megawatts.
The company LaGeo invested about $24 million in the exploration which led to the discovery of the new geothermal source.
As outlined in an article in Eleconomista.net, the Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River (CEL), a partner in the LA GEO which belongs to the Italian company Enel, states that "a possible plant could generate more than $37 million in annual revenues for the company."
A bill to authorize geothermal exploitation in an area which has been declared a national park should include reform of several other laws which currently prevent such activity.
So warned Jorge Cabrera, an expert in environmental law, during the debate entitled "Scope for reform to generate geothermal energy in national parks," organized by Nacion.com.
Costa Rica's state run power company is urging Congress to lift some of the restrictions on the exploitation of underground heat sources in places that have been declared as protected areas.
According to the president of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Teofilo de la Torre, it is important that this bill be received as soon as possible, "national parks have restricted uses and extracting steam from the land for geothermal use is one of them, the 'Rincon de la Vieja' volcano has great characteristics for steam extraction. If we know that there is a high possibility of increasing clean energy we have to try it. "
The country could generate more than 1519 MW of renewable energy from underground heat sources.
According to the Minister of Energy and Mines, Emilio Rappaccioli, in the mountains of the Maribios, which is part of the "Ring of Fire" in the Pacific, one of the most active volcanic areas in the world, estimations are of core generation of at least 1519 megawatts energy.
The World Bank is calling for a Global Geothermal Energy Development Plan in order to take advantage of subsurface heat available in many countries, including those in Central America.
From an article by the World Bank:
"Geothermal energy could be a triple benefit to developing countries: it is clean, reliable and locally produced. And once it is in operation, it is inexpensive and virtually inexhaustible." Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Managing Director, World Bank.
The Congress of El Salvador is evaluating implementing a tax which would in principle would apply only to LaGeo, a subsidiary of the Italian company Enel.
Against the backdrop of the dispute between the Government and the Italian company Enel over the capitalization of the geothermal LaGeo, "...an ad-hoc committee of the Legislature which is studying the LaGeo concession, the only cmpany with state permission to exploit subterranean heat sources, has proposed a series of amendments to the Electricity Law, including a tax that would be incurred by the activity of the geothermal company. "
New models of renewable energy developments led by SMEs are providing electricity to low-income rural households.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports that "The lack of oil reserves and rising prices has meant that the energy issue has gained a lot of interest in recent years in Central America. Installed capacity increased from 4129 MW in 1990, to 11,865 MW to in 2011, while net generation increased from 14,175 GWh to 42,115 GWh. "
The President of El Salvador has expressed suspicions that the original contract with the Italian company was changed "in the dark" by government officials.
The president referred to the subject in his radio program last Saturday, saying, "I've asked a group of lawyers to study the documents surrounding all investments with the Italian shareholders and it will be these specialists who might be able to shed a light on this illegal act, including even asking the Attorney General's Office to establish whether criminal liability be established in the future. "