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Nicaragua ranks number 3 in Latin America renewable energy market

Nicaragua ranks number 3 in Latin America renewable energy market San Jacinto-Tizate, geothermal power plant, Ram Power/ Polaris Geothermal Nicaragua (source: Ram Power)
Alexander Richter 7 Nov 2013

Nicaragua tops Central American countries on the implementation and attractiveness of renewable energy investment and development, according to Climatescope 2013, a joint report by the Inter-American Development Bank and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

According to Climatescope 2013, an annual report and index measuring the ability of 26 nations to foster low-carbon energy growth, Nicaragua remains one of the most attractive countries in Latin America for investment in renewable energies.

The report by the Inter-American Development Bank and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, ranks Nicaragua third in the region – first in Central America.

It is ranked due to its high penetration of renewable energy mix and influx of investment in proportion to the country’s small size of its economy. Brazil is listed number one and Chile number two.

Nicaragua increased its installed renewable power generation capacity to 36% in 2012 and has increased to 52% in 2013, according to Nicaragua’s Ministry of Energy and Mines. The country seeks to derive 92% of its power from renewables by 2016.

While there have been difficulties in a hydroelectric megaproject, wind power projects have attracted investment of $450 million since 2009.

But geothermal also plays a big role on this. The San Jacinto-Tizate geothermal power plant by Polaris Energy Nicaragua (Ram Power) has seen an investment of $420 million to expand its capacity in the past few years with another $40 million investment to bring additional capacity online by 2016.

“Investment in energy has been one of the principal projects of this government since 2007 when the investment program was launched first to resolve the blackouts with bunker oil and then to start developing conditions for investment in green energy,” Nicaragua’s Minister of Energy and Mines reported.

Source: Nicaragua Dispatch