In El Salvador, Energía del Pacifico has announced that it has met the requirements to obtain financing, and that it will start construction of the plant in the third quarter of the year.
During the first four months of the year, 64% of electricity was generated from hydraulic sources, 21% from thermal, 10% from wind, 2% from solar and 2% was from self-generation.
According to the most recent figures from the Comptroller General of Panama, in April 2018, 908 million kwh were generated, equivalent to an increase of 3.3% compared to the 879 million supplied in the same month in 2017.
The new Minister of Environment and Energy in Costa Rica is opposed to the Diquís project, which the state electricity company has been promoting for ten years, and which consists of building a hydroelectric generation plant in Puntarenas.
While the new leaders of the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) announced their intention to refloat the project, which due to unconstitutionality appeals filed against it has remained on paper for years, the Ministry of Environment and Energy has declared its opposition, stating that "... there are no studies or other assessments on the social and economic impact that justify the declaration of national convenience given to the project a decade ago."
Of the 2.4 million megawatt hours generated in the first quarter of the year in Honduras, 36% came from water sources.
According to figures from the National Electric Power Company (Enee), in the first quarter of 2018 thermal plants supplied the system with 581 thousand megawatt hours, which is equivalent to 25% of the total.
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 plant that AES El Salvador has inaugurated in La Union, required a $160 million investment, and has 44 thousand polycrystalline-type photovoltaic modules, in an area of 149 sqm.
Pasaquina is the first of ten solar power generation plants that AES El Salvador and Corporación Multi Inversiones plan to build in the three phases of the project. It is expected that the plants will start operations gradually over the next two years.
MIREC WEEK is an international congress on Renewable Energies, one of the most important in the sector, and will be held from May 21 to 24, 2018 in the World Trade Center, Mexico City.
MIREC WEEK is an International Congress on Renewable Energies, one of the most important in the sector, which brings together numerous companies, and will take place from May 21 to 24, 2018 at the facilities of the World Trade Center, Mexico City.
Instituto Nacional de Electrificación de Guatemala is putting out to tenderconstruction of works and a supply of specialized equipment for different hydroelectric plants.
The Congress of Costa Rica has finally approved a $500 million loan for the state electricity company to carry out electric generation and transmission works, including three geothermal plants.
Of the total amount of the loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved by the Legislative Assembly, close to $200 million will be used to finance the Pailas II, 50 MW, and Borinquen I, 55 MW geothermal projects, both in Liberia, Guanacaste.
After requesting an extension to postpone the date of entry into operations, authorities at AES Panama confirmed that the plant will begin operations on September 1.
Construction of the plant started in May 2016 and will have three generators, three gas turbines and one steam turbine, reaching a total installed capacity of 381 MW.
As of February 2018, Costa Rica had an installed solar capacity of 27 MW, which is equivalent to only 0.76% of the equipment interconnected in the National Electric System.
According to a study carried out by the Costa Rican Solar Energy Association (Acesolar), whose final results will be published next month, Costa Rica is lagging behind in the use of solar energy, even compared to other Central American countries.
The union of industrialists in Costa Rica claims to have detected an error in the electricity rates calculated by the state electricity company, the ICE, which presented their rates as being competitive with the US and Canada.
According to the information that the ICE presented on March 20, in all 14 consumption bands that it said were cheaper than the United States the opposite is true, the ICE's rate was cheaper because it used the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar the wrong way around.
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."
Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica de Honduras is putting out to tender a supply of bunker fuel, diesel and lubricating oil for power generation in thermal power plants.
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