El Salvador brings solar plant online

Inversiones Energéticas, a subsidiary of El Salvador’s state power company CEL, put into operation the government’s first solar plant.

The 17MW Talnique park cost US$20mn and will reduce annual CO2 emissions by almost 17,000t, according to CEL.

Construction of the plant in La Libertad department began a little over a year ago. It boasts 29,904 panels.

Information from the country’s wholesale power market administrator Unidad de Transacciones, shows that this year through end-November solar plants accounted for 7% of the 6,979GWh injected into the grid.

The bulk came from thermo (43%), hydro (19.9%) and geothermal (19.7%), with contributions also from biomass (6%) and wind (2%), and the balance from imports.

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Guatemala’s wholesale market administrator AMM launched bidding to carry out a study related to imports and exports and the wholesale market. The notice is available here with offers due by January 19.

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Costa Rica’s public services regulator Aresep announced an increase in power rates for 2024 due to greater thermo generation by state power company ICE because of weather phenomenon El Niño.

“It is expected that, at the end of 2023, the thermal generation produced using fuels (bunker and diesel) will be around 9% of the country's total generation, data that confirms the adverse effect of the El Niño phenomenon. In the last eight years, thermal generation represented around 1%,” the watchdog said in a statement.