Enersa starts Choloma III tests

Honduran energy company Empresa Energia Renovable (Enersa) started tests earlier this month on the 85MW first phase of its 230MW Choloma III diesel-fired power project and is on course to start operations as planned on March 30, CEO Edwin Hernandez told BNamericas. Construction of the next phase will "probably" start about one month later. The EPC contractor is again Germany's MAN B&W. "We have fulfilled our contract with MAN as well as our PPA [power purchase agreement] with [state power company] Enee," he said. Enersa has a 12-year PPA with Enee for 200MW. Enersa is in the final stages of securing financing and expects to make a formal announcement by the end of this month, Hernandez said. German export-import bank Hermes-Buergschaften is a "primary source" of funding, in which a number of private Central American banks will participate. Hernandez did not comment on previous reports that said the financing is for US$166mn but confirmed that the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei) will be involved.