In Panama, Ingenio Alanje plans to invest $50 million in a sugarcane bagasse-based generation plant, with an installed capacity of 34 MW.
The sugar mill that processes 520,000 tons of cane per year is located in the village of El Tejar, district of Alanje, province of Chiriquí, and is planning to construct a biomass-based power plant, which is expected to be operational by the next harvest, in the summer of 2019.
Last year, 87 environmental impact studies were submitted in the countries in the region, for the construction of power generation plants and works on electricity networks.
Panama is the country in the region where the largest investment is concentrated, with an approximate $1.29 billion in energyprojects, corresponding to 32 environmental impact studies submitted to the Ministry of the Environment between January and December 2017.
The sugar mill union could be investing $160 million in energy generation projects that use ethanol and in the construction of a biomass-based power plant.
Without giving further details, members of the sugar trade union reported that they are planning to build a biomasspower generation plant in the short term, which could be the most modern one in Central America.
In the last 20 years sugar mills in Guatemala increased their energy generation from 160 MW to 700 MW, and currently their contribution is equivalent to 27% of the energy matrix.
The union for the sector estimates that over the last decades mills have invested around $820 million in the generation of electric power.
With these investments yields have improved, as according to figures from the Association of Independent Cogenerators of Guatemala (ACI) for " ... every ton of ground cane, the mills used to be able to generate 44 kilowatt hours (kWh), but with the research development they generate 91 kWh."
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Aceitera Real has started operating a plant generating energy from waste in order to supply themselves and sell the surplus to the national grid.
The company also opened a fractionation palm oil plant, also in Chinandega.The renewable energy generation plant has the capacity to generate 7.5 kwh, of which the company will consume 6.4 KwH, explained the CEO of the company, Horacio Rappacciolli, to Elnuevodiario.com.ni.
The 43 MW generation plant based on biomass which recently opened in Choloma, Cortes, is part of a plan by the Hernandez administration to attract industrial investment.
The power generation plant based on biomass has the capacity to generate up to 43 MW and will be operated by the company Green Power Corporation S.A. de C.V., who will sell the power generated to private clients and to the National Electricity Company.
An announcement has been made of a visit by a trade delegation of Spanish companies specializing in agricultural machinery, on April 18 and 19.
The Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Guatemala informed Prensalibre.com that a trade mission of Spanish business people will be visiting the country on April 18 and 19. It will be formed of 15 entrepreneurs from eight Spanish firms belonging to the Spanish Association of Agricultural Machinery.
Public consultation is being carried out on the methodology for calculating tariffs for power generation from solid waste.
The drop in oil prices and high operating costs are not the only obstacles to projects generating energy from waste in Costa Rica. Now the Regulatory Authority of Public Services is calling for a public hearing in order to "start writing" a methodology, ordinary and extraordinary, that will determine the reference rates for power plants using municipal solid waste.
In Costa Rica, companies are reporting savings on their electricity bill of up to 30% after having migrated to biomass as a fuel source, and they are demanding legislation that favors its use.
The orange juice producer Del Oro in Costa Rica, achieved savings of up to 28% through the use of a biomass boiler that was installed in 2010, compared to what it cost to maintain it using bunker fuel. The data was provided by Raul Jimenez, head of maintenance at the company, as reported by La Nacion during the Second National Forum on Energy from Biomass.
In Costa Rica an electricity distributor has announced it plans to invest $35 million in a power plant to generate fuel with solid waste in Belen, province of Guanacaste.
The company Coopeguanacaste has proposed to the municipalities of Liberia, Carrillo and Nicoya that they send them their waste which will be used as raw material in the plant, which they plant to operate using the method of incineration.
Plans have been made to build a power plant in Colon using solid waste for fuel, with capacity to treat 450 tons of garbage a day.
The company Aguaseo SA presented a proposal to the Mayor of Colon to build a plant for solid waste treatment and power generation, with capacity to generate 15 MW / h.