El Salvador’s energy regulator, Consejo Nacional de Energía (CNE), is expected to hold an auction for for solar and biogas power by January. The announcement came via CNE’s twitter account, which gave a preview of the auction to be expected in the coming months. Luis Reyes, executive secretary of the CNE, noted that details are not firm at the moment, “I can not give the exact data, but we are considering at least two technologies: photovoltaic and biogas, because they are the same technologies for which there is now availability of developers,” Reyes said, according to local newspaper El Mundo.
In January of this year the CNE held an auction for 119 MW (DC) of solar energy and 70 MW of wind. In the tender, four solar projects were awarded. Two of these projects have each a capacity of 50 MW and are selling power at a price of $49.55/MWh and $49.65/MWh, respectively. Furthermore, the CNE had selected a 10 MW project selling power at $67.24/MWh and a 9.9 MW facility offering a price of $54.98/MWh.
Renewable energy has helped to reduce electricity prices in El Salvador, according to the country’s watchdog, Siget, who announced electricity tariff will be reduced 4.4% by January 15. The price drop comes from multiple factors, including high performance of hydro power plants, the commissioning of a 60 MW solar power plant, and a decrease in fuel used for thermal generation.
