Codelco, a state-owned copper mine in Chile, has cut their 67,000 annual barrels of diesel usage by 80% through the installation of 3,000 solar panels. In a country in which competes for the world’s highest energy prices, the cost-savings through renewables are considerable.
Groupo Dragon and the Federal Electricity Commission are in talks to develop a Mexican geothermal project. According to feasibility studies, 700 MW of Mexico’s potential 5000 MW can be easily developed.
Updates regarding the Amatitlan Geothermal Plant in Guatemala. In their second quarter results report, Ormat Technologies disclosed a $42 million loan agreement to refinance the Amatitlan geothermal plant in Guatemala with Banco Industrial S.A. and its affiliate Westrust Bank. Funding is expected shortly. Here to read the full press release.
According to Jay Gallegos, CEO of Globeleq Mesoamerican Energy and CAMRIS 2015 speaker, abrupt changes in law, regulatory uncertainty and financially insecure utilities add unexpected costs to developing projects in new markets. “It’s a minefield of risks,”said Gallegos, “that end up occurring as you work on these projects, and many of them cost you.” In […]
Minister Darcy Boyce of Barbados is the latest regional policy-maker to join the marquee session, the Ministerial Roundtable, at CREF 2015. Minister Boyce joins a session comprising Hon. Phillip Paulwell of Jamaica, Hon. James Fletcher of St. Lucia, and Hon. Troy Liburd of the Nevis Island Administration. In the run-up to COP 21, and against […]
U.S. Geothermal Inc. has announced significant developments in geothermal projects. The Company’s subsidiary, U.S. Geothermal Guatemala, started drilling well EC-2 at the El Ceibillo Project this week. At the El Ceibillo project in Guatemala, drilling started on Well EC-2 which has a planned depth of 1,968 feet (600 meters). EC-2 will test a high temperature anomaly […]
St. Lucia and Grenada will establish national energy regulatory commissions in an effort to “establish and operationalize a regional approach to the development and regularization of the electricity sector.” According to Bentley Browne, Director of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States’ Division on Social and Sustainable Development, “the current legal and regulatory framework in many of the […]
Following the IDB’s pledge of $600 million for a Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has pledged an additional $120 million. CDB President Warren Smith wrote that, “the existence of a multi-donor facility will allow participating donors to leverage the resources they have available to support this transformation.”
Latin America’s renewable energy industry is about to receive a major boost. Enel Green Power (EGP) plans to invest 53% of its $8.8 billion dollar renewables budget into Latin America. While the majority of these projects will be solar and hydro powered, a portion of the funds will be used for the development of the […]