12 turbines have been added at Cerro de Hula wind farm, with an additional investment of $63 million.
Currently the Cerro de Hula wind farm, owned by Energía Eólica de Honduras, a subsidiary of Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy, has a generating capacity of 102 MW.
The investment of $63 million announced by Deputy Minister of Natural Resources of Honduras, Roberto Cardona, will increase generation by 25 MW, bringing the total generating potential of Cerro Hula to 127 MW.
For several years now, Honduran authorities have stated their intention of moving the company’s gas plant in the locality of Omoa.
However, for various reasons, such decision has not been taken yet, but authorities seem poised to do it now. The Council of Ministers is expected to meet and analyze if they revoke the company’s operation license.
Tomza, the Mexican group who owns the company, has been targeted by authorities, as it allegedly owes $8 million to the state; has been accused of contaminating and corruption when purchasing the plant’s lots.
The Honduran Government needs $110 million in financing for construction of El Tablón dam on the Chamelecón River.
While the dam would generate only 20 megawatts, the authorities of the Executive Committee of Valle de Sula (CEVS) visualize the project as a "magnificent protection project for the Valle de Sula," given that "it will serve to regulate flow, generate electricity and provide drinking and irrigation water."
Chevron, Pemex, Petrobras and PDVSA would be interested in exploring and exploiting oil in Honduras.
Tomás Vaquero, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Honduras, said 8,000 square klilometers are being explored in the Caribbean to see if there is oil and whether it is feasible to extract it.
According to an article in laprensahn.com, if the existence of petroleum is confirmed, "the aforementioned companies would be given an opportunity to go and explore in Honduras."
The project to be developed in San Pedro Sula was announced during Expo-energy 2009 in Honduras and it would generate 300 megawatts.
Minister Tomás Vaquero, head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (SERNA by its initials in Spanish), reported that a U.S. company with experience in such projects is interested in developing it.
According to the article by Germán Briceño in Laprensa.hn, Minister Vaquero said: "We have large and small projects from 20 to 40 megawatts. One of them, to develop marine energy based on a submarine, has been agreed upon just this week. The interested company is from the United States. It is specialized in making satellites and has created similar solutions in Asia and Africa. The investment will be in the order of $600 million to generate 300 megawatts of electricity."
The new environmental regulations will produce great legal confidence and will speed up investment in the country.
The Secretariat of Natural Resources and the Environment (SERNA) along with the private sector began updating the Regulations for the Environmental Impact Evaluation System, the legal instrument used to regulate environmental licenses granted in the country.