Progen lands 40MW Mexico off-grid project

US off-grid electricity provider Progen Industries has secured a 40MW project in Mexico as it expands its Latin American footprint, the company told BNamericas.

The deal comes as the Florida-based firm begins a 15MW heavy fuel project for a miner in Guatemala and completes the installation of a 25MW plant in Honduras.

"The Honduras plant is being installed for a merchant selling power to the government and the Guatemala project will replace an existing power plant that was much more expensive to operate and less reliable," Bobby Cusmano, Progen´s VP of business development, said in an interview.

Progen did not reveal details of the Mexico project due to the confidential nature of negotiations.

Despite the growth of renewable energy sources, Cusmano said there is still strong demand for cost-effective fossil fuel-fired plants, particularly in the hydrocarbon and mining industries.

One such example is in North Dakota, where Progen has implemented a pilot project that utilizes flare gas as the primary fuel.

"Every country in Latin America has regions and locations that don't have established power grids that provide economical and typically reliable power," Cusmano said. "It's more likely that there may be more locations in Central America without reliable power than South America; however, every country has its locations."

He added: "We've developed projects and installed numerous power stations in Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Brazil, among many others. The projects have all involved the development of plants that require extremely reliable critical grade base load power supply and simplified operations and maintenance."

The first of a two-part interview with Cusmano can be seen here.