Panama’s public services regulator Asep has granted definitive licenses for small-scale, natural gas-fired plants which will benefit off-grid communities.
The Santa Fe (8.85MW, US$9.9mn) and Tortí (3.86MW, US$4.7mn) projects belong to Island Power (IPSA) which specializes in isolated systems and belongs to local groups Eleta and Trenco.
Santa Fe is planned for Chepigana district in Darién province and Tortí in Chepo district, Panamá province. An estimated 25,000 residents will benefit.
In 2018, IPSA won a contract in Panama’s call to supply electricity to isolated systems in Darién, Tortí, the Guna Yala reserve, and the Las Perlas and San Blas archipelagos.
The watchdog approved the licenses after IPSA secured environmental approval and the connection green light from power distributor Elektra Noreste, among other requirements.
Under the 40-year licenses, which may be extended by up to 40 years, IPSA has nine months to complete both plants, which will boast Caterpillar units.
Last year, IPSA was the first company to sign a supply contract with Colon LNG Marketing which will dispatch the fuel via cryogenic trucks to the plants from AES Colón.
Recently, Colon LNG Marketing and Tropigas Natural inked a deal to dispatch LNG via cistern truck in Panama and to Costa Rica.
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