Largest solar plant in Central America inaugurated in Guatemala

May 28, 2014 - globalpost.com

Guatemala City, May 28 (EFE).- Spanish developer Gran Solar, Guatemala's Grupo Green and Swiss investor Ecosolar on Wednesday inaugurated Guatemala's first solar power plant.

The 5 MW plant in the eastern town of Estanzuela cost $14 million to build, will provide power to more than 24,000 residences and is the largest of its kind in Central America.

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, who attended the inauguration, termed the project historic and said initiatives of this type will ensure "the country's economy will keep growing to help many families that are now in poverty."

"We're moving toward renewable energy and there's a willingness on the part of the government to keep promoting these environmentally friendly projects," the president said.

The project was completed in a record time of four months, Perez Molina added.

The Sibo plant consists of 20,320 solar panels and covers an area of nearly 14 hectares (35 acres).

The electricity will be fed to a line operated by Guatemalan energy distributor Energuate, which will buy the power generated by the plant under a 16-year purchase agreement.

Until now, a 46 KW plant in Costa Rica had been Central America's largest solar facility.