AES and CMI to build 100 MW in El Salvador

Guatemalan agro-industrial group CMI and AES El Salvador, the Salvadoran unit of U.S. power distributor AES Corporation, will build the first three 10 MW arrays of the $160 million Bósforo project in the eastern department of La Unión, in the municipalities of Pasaquina, El Carmen and La Unión.

In the second phase, the two sides will construct 40 MW of solar capacity at four locations across the western part of the country, according to the Ministry of Economy. The third phase will likely be built at unspecified sites in central El Salvador, although the local authorities have yet to confirm whether energy regulator Consejo Nacional de Energía (CNE) will grant long-term PPAs.

French independent power producer Neoen completed 101 MW of solar in El Salvador in May. The project includes the 76 MW Antares facility, which was selected in a recent energy auction. It will sell electricity to the national grid at a rate of $0.1019/kWh. It also finished the 25 MW Spica array, which is now generating electricity for local power distributor DelSur.

Neoen won a PPA for 136 MW of solar in El Salvador’s second auction for renewable energy, which was held in March of this year. The plant will sell power to the national grid at a price lower than $50/MWh.