During last year, imports of electric generators increased year-on-year in Nicaragua and Guatemala, and decreased in Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and El Salvador.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with the graphic"].
Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica de Honduras tenders’ goods and related services for renewable energy generation systems, through microgrids in Brus Laguna, department of Gracias a Dios and Guanaja, in the department of Isla de la Bahia.
In El Salvador during 2021, AES announced that it plans to invest between $60 and $75 million in the development of new solar energy projects and works in the distribution network.
The company already has investments in the country.
As of April 2021, the Ventus wind power plant, an electricity generation park with an installed capacity of 54 MW, will begin operating in El Salvador.
The new power generation park, which has 15 wind turbines of 120 meters high each, is located in the municipality of Metapan, Department of Santa Ana.
In El Salvador, the initial plan was that the new Energia del Pacifico power plant would begin operations in early 2022; however, it is currently projected to begin operations until July 1 of next year.
The project located in the Acajutla port area, which will have an installed capacity of 378 megawatts and began construction in 2015, will be delayed a few months.
Due to changes in people's habits, energy consumption in commercial establishments, offices and industrial complexes has decreased, contrasting with the rise in demand in residential areas.
The quarantines and restrictions on mobility that Central America has experienced due to the covid-19 outbreak and the latent risk of contagion, has caused radical changes in the region's electricity market.
For the period from October 15, 2020 to January 14, 2021, the price of electricity in the country will rise an average of 14% over the previous quarter.
The main factor that affected the adjustment was the increase of more than 67% in the average international price of oil, an upward variation that impacted energy prices in the System's Regulatory Market and especially in the prices of Long Term Contracts, informed the General Superintendence of Electricity and Telecommunications (SIGET).
In El Salvador, the terms of reference were announced to be published in November 2020, with details of the tender to design a biogas plant in the country.
According to directors of the Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River (Cel), an ambitious investment plan is being worked on which, in addition to the new biogas plant, includes the development of new geothermal plants.
The Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica de Honduras (Honduran National Electric Power Company) is putting out to tender at the international level a high-level individual consultancy service for the preparation of specialized terms of reference and budgets to strengthen the country's electricity transmission capacity.
Due to the drop in economic activity generated by the covid-19 crisis, a 7.9% reduction in domestic electricity consumption was reported in the region between March and June 2020, when compared to the levels of the same period in 2019.
Regarding the reduction of internal consumption of electricity in the countries from March to June 2020, we have that Guatemala had a drop in its demand of 239 GWh (Gigawatt hours), which corresponds to 6.6% compared to the consumption of electricity in 2019, in the case of El Salvador with a reduction of 335 GWh, equivalent to 15.4%, says a report from the Regional Operating Agency (EOR).
In the context of the health crisis and home quarantine, the average daily consumption in the country is about 18 GWh, which is 25% less than that reported prior to the outbreak of the virus.
Data from the Transaction Unit (TU) indicate that between the levels reported in February and the demand registered from March 23 to April 3, consumption has fallen from 19.6 GWh to 15 GWh on average.
If the quarantine and mobility restriction measures are extended by two months, it is forecast that by the end of the year the annualized demand for electricity generation, transmission and distribution in Central America will have fallen by 4%.
The "Information System for the Impact Analysis of Covid-19 on Business", prepared by the Trade Intelligence Unit of CentralAmericaData, measures the degree of impact that the crisis will have on companies according to their sector or economic activity, considering various scenarios for the coming months.
During 2019, electricity purchase and sale transactions between Central American countries amounted to 3,074 GWh, a 14% increase compared to 2018.
Figures from the Regional Operating Entity (EOR) show that the average price recorded in regional transactions during 2018 and 2019 also increased, going from $74.05 per MWh to $90.11 per MWh.
Electricity distributor AES El Salvador announced that this year it plans to invest $36 million in modernizing the network, which includes the renovation of 8,120 residential and industrial meters.
The company's directors informed that they are contemplating works to expand the electricity distribution networks, the renovation of smart meters, the maintenance of overhead lines and the growth in the construction of underground networks.
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