Caribbean, Central America power watch

IDB has published a general procurement notice for goods, works, related services and consultancy services to be procured under the Bahamas' energy sector reconstruction resilience program.

The government has received US$80mn in financing from the development bank for the program which will support transmission and distribution grid rehabilitation, the installation of renewable energy systems and improvement of the regulatory framework, according to the notice.

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Honduras’ power regulator CREE is accepting comment on a proposed update to the annual rate of the cost of capital, defined by the regulator, which is used to calculate the rates for transmission and distribution activities (the "tasa de actualizacion"). Information is available here, in Spanish.

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As part of its 2019-33 expansion of the national interconnection system plan (PESIN), Panama's state power company Etesa put into operation a US$5.4mn 90MVAr capacity bank at the 230kV La Chorrera substation.

The operator said that the new infrastructure will strengthen reactive capacity and improve voltage levels, reduce transmission restrictions, and increase dispatch from generation plants to Panama City.

On May 20, the country set a maximum demand record of 2,020MW, breaking the previous mark of 1,969MW set on March 10, 2020. Etesa highlighted that the new high coincided with the recent reactivation of economic activity.

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Roberto Jiménez Gómez, head of Costa Rica’s public services regulator Aresep, will preside over Central America power interconnection commission CRIE for one year starting on June 1.

“The role of Costa Rica is essential to open up possibilities for the Central American market, to incorporate more suppliers and to promote economic growth in the region,” the watchdog said in a statement.

Jiménez will take over from Manuel Ernesto Aguilar, head of El Salvador’s power and telecommunications regulator SIGET.