Clean energy investments soared higher in Latin America in 2012 amid an overall, global contraction. Four Latin American countries registered triple-digit percentage increases, with Brazil leading the way in terms of dollars invested. The data was released by Bloomberg New Energy Finance in advance of ACORE’s third Latin America & Caribbean Renewable Energy Finance Forum, which is being held in Miami this week.
As the UN Rio+20 conference on sustainable development opened, the US international development bank announced it is investing in renewable energy and energy infrastructure funds focused on financing projects across Latin America, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. […]
El Salvador’s non-profit, state-owned power utility is readying the auction of rights to develop the Central American nation’s first utility-scale solar PV projects, one aspect of its national renewable energy strategy. The first solar PV projects are to be co-located and integrated with the transmission infrastructure of the utility’s hydroelectric dams. […]
Vestas is to supply 39.6-MW of wind turbines, service and maintenance for Alba de Nicaragua’s Alba Rivas wind farm in Hacienda La Fe. Latin American wind energy markets are growing in importance as Europe struggles with its debt woes and the key US wind energy production tax credit is unlikely to be renewed by the end of the year.
In just over a year, Gamesa and Iberdrola have brought Central America’s largest wind farm online — the 102 MW Cerro de Hula wind farm outside of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. Some 36% of Hondurans do not have access to electrical power. Cerro de Hula is projected to boost Honduran generation capacity by 10%.
