Jorge Loáisiga Mayorga y Moisés Martínez

The Central American Electric Interconnection System (SIEPAC) has stopped being a dream.  Construction began in Nicaragua and to date more than three million dollars in indemnities have been paid for the right of service. 

The project takes the form of an electrical transmission line of approximately 1,800 kilometers (1,076 miles) which will connect the electric networks of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

The line, with capacities for 230 kilovolts and 300 megawatts, will be the backbone of the Central American Electric Interconnection System, one of the principal projects for integration and regional cooperation.

Of the 1,800 kilometers of electric lines, 318 kilometers (197 miles) will be constructed in Nicaragua, from El Guasaule to the border with Costa Rica along the Pacific coast, at a cost of approximately 40 or 50 million dollars.

It is hoped that the SIEPAC project will benefit the countries of the region in several different ways.  The transmission line will improve confidence in electric supply, facilitate investment in more modern, clean, and efficient generators; and it will make possible the formation of regional market competition, which will take off as does the line.

While the line is being installed, the opportunity will also be taken to place 65,500 kilometers (40,610 miles) of fiber optics to facilitate the transmission of images, data, and voice in the region.

The project will take 30 months to complete and although there is no simultaneous starting time for the countries, the idea is that within those 30 months the entire project can be finished.

The benefit of such a project is that different electrical companies in the Central America can buy and sell electricity without having to worry about where they are, taking advantage of the interconnectedness of all the countries.

CENTRAL AMERICAN MEGAPROJECT

The total cost of the project in all of Central America is 300 million dollars, financed by the Interamerican Development Bank, according to William Borges, one of the engineers in charge of the project in Nicaragua who was hired by the owner of the project, Empresa Propietaria de la Red (EPR).

Borges told La PRENSA that “the physical installation has begun in Nicaragua, in the zone of León.  Construction of the bases for the towers that will be built has begun there.”
“This has been a dream for Central American technicians since the mid-80’s and now it is becoming a reality,” said Borges.

The specialist explained that the 318 kilometers assigned in Nicaragua will affect 1,172 properties to acquire the rights of service where the network will be installed, with a width of 30 meters.

He added that the large majority of owners accepted negotiations with the company and it has been to these people that the three million dollars have been paid as indemnities for the rights of service.