In a portfolio totaling $600 billion, energy entrepreneurs have identified ten renewable energy projects – including geothermal, hydroelectric, wind, solar and biomass, the chairman of the House Energy of Nicaragua (CEN), César Zamora said yesterday.
According to Zamora, energy entrepreneurs will meet with government officials in the first half of February to analyze the expansion plan in energy and define the country’s priorities.
“There is a range of projects, with full feasibility, with funding available, and at the same time with specific deadlines to meet the goals required by the authorities,” said the CEN representative.
The specialist explained that these investments should be made in several years. In 2016, investments in energy projects would have totaled approximately US $ 200 million, said the CEN president.
He explained that every year the country needs 40 megawatts more power to guarantee service and improve transmission systems and substations lines.
“It is a consolidated market and we want from the private sector to continue investing in the country,” stressed Zamora.
At the meeting they expect to know the Government’s priorities as to what types of energy projects they wish to develop and will demand that they be transparent bidding processes.
Zamora said that in the end the purpose is for consumers to have cheaper energy.
The executive director of the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (Funides), Juan Sebastián Chamorro, considered that Nicaragua has invested a significant amount of resources in the last years in the production of renewable energy, which he considered “to be applaudable.”
” We must take into account that energy is cheap. That means using the most efficient resources, with the ultimate goal of maintaining competitiveness. It has to be that combination of energy that ensures the greatest efficiency for the country, “said Chamorro.
The economist Chamorro also emphasized that in Nicaragua’s electricity generation matrix, for example, a gas-based generation plant “which is quite large” is being included and would be operational in the coming years.
