On November 4th, Guatemala City will host a regional summit on energy investments in Central America.
From A statement issued by the Government of Guatemala:
The minister Erick Archila has announced that Guatemala will host a summit on energy investment in the countries of the Mesoamerican region which will take place on November 4, convened by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM). He said that in addition to studying investment opportunities in this sector in the nations of the region, Guatemala is seek to reaffirm its leadership position in Central America.
With the recently awarded contracts and tenders in process, it is estimated that by 2017 the energy matrix will grow by 52%, with hydropower accounting for 41.3%.
Prensalibre.com reports that "...With the contracts awarded, which are for 15 years, the installed power generation capacity will go from 2,519 megawatts (MW) recorded last May to three 3,836 MW. "
Using an auction mechanism consisting of successive rounds contracts were awarded to 21 power plants for energy supply at an average price of $109.38 per MW.
Dimas Carranza, coordinator of the Tender Board, told Prensalibre.com that the average price of $109.38 per MW "... refers to the amount projected for 2018, when contracts must be operational ... those prices equate to $97.74 at 2013 prices."
The Ministry of Energy and Mines is planning a tender for geothermal power generation to complement the renewable energy tenders that have already been announced.
Minister Erick Archila told S21.com.gt that "... we are at the stage of planning and development ... 'For the first time we have projects using other technologies such as solar and wind, which could start in early 2015; this fourth tender will be a complement.'"
The Guatemalan government intends to impose a two year moratorium on the mining industry, in order to study a new law for the sector.
From a press release by the Guatemalan Government:
President Otto Perez Molina announced that his government has taken the "transcendent" decision to propose a moratorium on the mining industry, which will lead to the bill that will be presented to Congress on Wednesday.
Royalties on mineral holdings in Guatemala will be imposed on three levels related to the base value of the extracted material.
According to Mario Marroquin, president of the Union of Mining and CEO of the company Montana Exploradora (main extractor of gold and silver in Guatemala), precious metals are those with the highest and there are other lower rates for base metals and non-metallic minerals.
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