Panama Investor Blog

Panama plant will build wind power equipment

This is one of the first manufacturing operations I have heard of in Panama. Interesting and expected statement from the company, "Benalal argues that it has been difficult to find qualified personnel in Panama, so there are workers from other regions who will be working for the project  locally."

Machine translated From La Prensa

alex e. hernández
aehernandez@prensa.com

Panama may be after Brazil and Mexico, the third Latin American country to have a center of manufacture and maintenance of wind power equipment.

The project is part of the Panamanian Technology Industry Company (ITP) Spanish capital to invest, with some delay as planned, $ 10 million in the first phase of the complex.

Maxo Benalal, executive director of ITP, said the project was delayed a year due to the international financial crisis, but said that everything is scheduled to begin construction in September.

ITP is currently developing two wind projects, one in the province of Veraguas and one on the Bugle Ngäbe region, which together represent an investment of 300 million dollars.

In addition, ITP develops a wind project for another company in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic building two, one of them himself and the other in alliance with another energy company.

Benalal argues that it has been difficult to find qualified personnel in Panama, so there are workers from other regions are working for the project in the locality.

To move these workers into the country, the firm held in the coming weeks a restructuring of its subsidiaries engaged in the design of wind farms and currently operating in other countries.

95% of population get electric subsidy

Another interesting statistic I came across today is the amount of electrical subsidies that are paid out each year by the Panamanian government. The government gives a discount on energy usage to 95% of the population because they use under 500 KW hours a month. This is another form of wealth distribution that the current administration had hoped to modify. But after careful consideration they decided to apply the subsidy only to primary residences after determining that a lot of wealthy property owners get this benefit on their second and third homes that sit unused a great deal of time. Aggravating 95% of the population does not seem like a great idea even if the concept of everyone paying the same rate for the same service sounds logical.

Panama soon to be major energy hub

Panama will soon be able to distribute electricity throughout Central America, making it a major player in energy distribution. With all of the new hydro electric power coming online in Chiriqui over the next few years, Panama should do very well selling power at low demand times when the multitude of air conditioners are turned down in the city.

Excerpts from Reuters

>

* Will connect six nations, 37 million consumers

* Project seen reducing power shortages, cutting costs

* Panama also working on Colombia cable for 2014

By Daniel Wallis

CARTAGENA, Colombia, June 24 (Reuters) - Panama said on Thursday a 1,788 km (1,110 miles) electricity transmission line serving 37 million people across six Central American countries should be operational by the first quarter of next year.

The transmission line is expected to reduce power shortages, cut operating costs and attract foreign capital to the region, as well as optimizing the sharing of resources like hydropower.

One feasibility study in the 1990s estimated SIEPAC could trim charges for electricity consumers by up to 20 percent.

"We're working on these projects with Central America, now we're working with Colombia, and we'll look to see what other opportunities there may be," Urriola said.

"We want to become an energy hub for Central America."

A generation after it shed a tradition of military rule, analysts say canny fiscal management and good stewardship of the canal have made the tiny country a model of success for today's frontier markets.

Hydro Power Versus River Rafting

River rafting has been a part of the Boquete Chiriqui experience well before I arrived here in 1997. I have made several rafting trips down the less active parts of the Chiriqui Veijo with my family and it was an inspiring journey. Several companies operate rafting adventures in Boquete and by and large they bring a great deal of tourism to our community.

Now these businesses and the adventure tourism that has sprung up around it are in jeopardy. The Chiriqui Viejo river than runs near the border of Costa RIca is now being harnessed for hydro electric power which includes damming the river in a number of places to extract the valuable energy it contains. Panama is hungry for new sources of energy and hydro, which makes up a majority of our energy in Panama, is continuing to grow in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, like most modernization and "progress" some very good things take a back seat or are eliminated entirely by the advances. In the case of Boquete's river rafting, the hydr'os will eliminate any water passing through the river in areas that are considered some of the finest rafting experiences in the world.

Is there a solution or a compromise that could be found to allow river rafting to continue while much needed energy is derived from the river? In a number of similar situations around the globe, governments and private enterprise have found it beneficial to release sufficient water for several hours each morning which allows for river rafting and the tourism it brings to flourish without the hydro's losing much in the way of revenue. Lets hope that Panama's leadership will consider this matter seriously before the switch is thrown and Panama's only river rafting industry has its lights put out.

BP strikes oil in Chiriqui province!

The pipeline you see snaking through the Talamarca mountains in certain areas when traveling between Chiriqui province and Chiriqui Grande in Bocas province belongs to Petroterminal de Panama SA, PTP. It runs for 81 miles through some of the most difficult terrain you can imagine. Although the pipeline was built 30 years ago it pumped oil from the Pacific to the Atlantic taking Alaskan crude to ships heading for the gulf coast refineries. Now they have reversed the flow in order to bring oil from Angola, Colombia and Venezuela to refineries on the U.S. west coast. As soon as the rest of the storage facilities are completed on either end, they will be pumping an initial 65,000 barrels of oil a day through the province. The capacity of the pipeline is an amazing 860,000 barrels a day. Deep water ports on either side of the isthmus allow oil tankers to get close to shore to offload and take on oil. Panama currently owns 40% of the company.  You can learn more details on this project from Wikipedia.

 La Prensa

Wilfredo S. Jordan
wjordan@prensa.com wjordan@prensa.com

  Petroterminal de Panama SA (PTP) completed the first two phases of expansion of the pipeline and began working on the third stage which will comprise a total investment of $ 450 million.

  The first phase of expansion was the reversal of the pipeline to pump crude from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  After completing the work and perform the tests, "on 27 August we received the first barrel of oil from the Atlantic," said the manager of PTP, Luis Roquebert.

  The second phase of the project involved the construction of five tanks to store 3.4 million barrels of oil, of which three were erected in the Pacific sector and two in the Atlantic.

 For the third phase additional ten tanks will be built with an investment of $ 375 million. The work of this third phase already began in early October, according Roquebert.  On April 10 PTP turned 30 years of operations in Panama.

New energy demand record set in Panama

Panama seems to have an insatiable appetite for energy with demand increasing almost monthly. With the need for cooling all the new buildings in Panama City, it really comes as no surprise. Good news if you are in the energy business.

Excerpts from La Prensa:

According to the report of the National Dispatch Center of the Electricity Transmission Company Ltd. (Etesa) Friday September 25, the system recorded a new record for energy demand after registering 130 thousand megawatts.

  Demand is growing near the capacity of the system at present is 367 thousand megawatts. . Of all the generating plants, corresponding to about 800 MW hydro and rectum, a thermoelectric.

  Although statistical data is recorded  installed capacity of 680 thousand megawatts until June 2009, daily capacity is lower this system after leaving some plants due to technical problems or maintenance.

  The Energy Secretariat prepares an energy saving plan that was implemented in mid-October to reduce the cost of electricity mainly in government offices where there is high power consumption by the use of air conditioners.The consumption of electricity in the country is concentrated in the cities of Panama and Colon, where not only home to 56% of the population, but are also sites of major commercial and industrial activities in the country.

Electricity bills coming down

Source: estrelladepanama.com
Wednesday, July 22, 2009

A 10% reduction for business and residential fees will come into effect in the next weeks.

The announcement was made by president Ricardo Martinelli, at a meeting with the Union of Industry.

From newspaper La Estrella: "In the meeting, Martinelli informed them that the reduction was achieved after reaching a consensus with energy generation, transmission and distribution companies. This would be the second reduction in less than two months, given that on July 1st, fees were lowered almost half a cent per KWh".

Panama to develop 31 hydro projects of 1,047 MW by 2013

When coupled with new wind farms, this will nearly double Panama's current energy generation and make it possible to eliminate existing oil fired energy generators. Panama should be a net energy exporter within the next few years.

From Hydro review

Excerpts: Panama's utility regulator predicts the nation will add 31 hydroelectric projects totaling 1,047 MW through 2013.

Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Publicos (Asep) said 15 of the projects are under construction “with a healthy rate of progress,” while the other 16 are in final design. The agency said the projects represent investment of US$2 billion, giving a strong boost to the Panama economy.

“This gives peace of mind that the market is growing because they can meet demand in coming years,” Asep said.

Panama’s current installed capacity is 1,663 MW, compared to peak demand of 1,120 MW, Asep said. Demand is expected to total 1,373 MW by 2013.

read the rest of the story here..

Panama's first wind farm a big one

La Prensa
Fersa Energies Renovables, SA, a Spanish company operating in three continents, won permission to build the first wind farm in Panama.

The company, based in Barcelona, won approval to develop the wind farm of 225 megawatts Toabre and connecting to the national grid of Panama, said President José María Roger, in a telephone interview yesterday.

Fersa is strengthening its presence abroad, where they benefit from government incentives to develop renewable energy as well as countries seek to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and control the emission of greenhouse gases.

In contrast, Spain is seeking to limit the wind under a plan for 2010 to 2020 renewables, according to the daily El Economista.

"Project funding Toabre be ready by early October and construction should begin later this year," said Roger.

FERS, which will implement the project through its subsidiary Toabre Panamanian Enrilews SA, which owns 92%, has provisional approval for another wind farm in Panama, a development of 246 megawatts.

Visualizing The Grid

I came across this interactive energy site which shows the various electric energy generating plants throughout the U.S.. You can see the energy sources, distribution, plant types and sizes. Oil represents a fairly small percentage of electric generation with most of it generated by coal and gas fired plants.  Very cool!
Click here to go to NPR