Authorities announced a tender next month for another 200 MW of power from renewable resources.
According to the Energy Minister Erick Archila, the investments by companies that were awarded the first 630 MW in two previous tenders, will start to come into effect next year."The investment will be $1.8 billion in solar plants, wind and renewable resources," he added.
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.
The financial potential of cooperatives in Guatemala will revolve around the development of renewable energy projects.
The groups belonging to the Guatemalan Confederation of Cooperative Associations, RL (Confecoop), have projects, funding and implementation programs for the construction of small hydroelectric plants, whose owners are cooperatives.
"We have made the final adjustments to the investment plan and contributions to the main supply, and we hope to present the project in June," said Rodolfo Orozco, executive director of Confecoop to Prensalibre.com. However, Orozco did not say how many mini plants will be built.
Several projects in Jocotán, that would start operations in 2011, were approved by the National Commission for Electric Energy (CNEE).
Two projects by the company named "Desarrollo de Generación Eléctrica y Manejo de Recursos Naturales Las Tres Niñas, S.A." were approved, one for 120 megawatts, and the other for 57 megawatts. Additionally, "Generación Limpia de Guatemala, S.A." property of Grupo Unión Fenosa, received the CNEE's approval for 3 projects, which sum 94 megawatts of power.