Monday 29 December
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Latin America
Condemns Israeli Air
Attacks on Gaza
Nicaragua Turns To
Wind Power, Builds 19 Windmills
Red Cross
Mediating FARC Hostage Release
Drug Trade Destroying
Peruvian Forests
Chavez: Crisis Has
Spared Venezuela
|
Nicaragua Turns To Wind
Power, Builds 19
Windmills
Managua - nergy-starved
Nicaragua is turning to
wind as it tries to
reduce its dependence on
oil-based power. In
January, the country
will begin operating 19
windmills that have the
potential to generate 40
megawatts of energy.
Energy Minister Emilio
Rappaccioli said the
us$90 million project
will be operating at
full capacity by the end
of January and
contribute 6 percent of
the country's total
energy needs.
Nicaragua successfully
ended rolling blackouts
that left the country
without power for hours
on many days, but the
government struggled to
pay higher energy costs
as oil prices peaked at
more than $147 a barrel
earlier this year.
Rappaccioli said the new
project will save about
us$9 million a year in
fuel costs, at current
prices. The lead
developer on the
operation is Arctas
Capital Group LP of
Houston, Texas, which
says it is in advanced
stages of development
for another 40-megawatt
installation.
Wind is part of
Nicaragua's efforts to
reduce its dependence on
oil-based energy to just
3 percent by 2013. The
country has also turned
to geothermal power from
volcanoes, hydroelectric
power generated by
rivers and sugarcane
based ethanol. Those
sources provide 34
percent of Nicaragua's
energy.
Ernesto Martinez,
executive president of
the Nicaraguan Energy
Company, said recently
that Russia will finance
and build two geothermal
plants in Nicaragua with
the capacity to produce
250 megawatts. And on
Tuesday, Rappaccioli
said Iran, Brazil and
Mexican billionaire
Carlos Slim have also
expressed interest in
investing in the
country's renewable
energy efforts.
Nearly 80 percent of the
oil Nicaragua consumes
is provided at a
discount by Venezuela,
whose president, Hugo
Chavez, is a close ally
of Nicaraguan leader
Daniel Ortega.
The 126-meter (410-feet)
high windmills,
installed by Suzlon
Energy Ltd. of Pune,
India, were set up on
the edge of Lake
Nicaragua. They sit in
the shadow of the twin
volcanoes Concepcion and
Maderas on the lake's
Ometepe Island, and have
become a tourist
attraction of sorts.
"They remind me of Don
Quijote," said Danilo
Gutierrez, a professor
who drove from the
capital of Managua with
his family to see them.
The project's Canadian
manager, Sean Porter,
says officials are
considering adding 19
more windmills.
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