Honduras Seeking to Relaunch 20-Megawatt El Tablon Hydropower Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Honduras' Valle del Sula executive commission (CEVS) (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) prepared studies in 2002 on offering the El Tablon multi-use hydropower project to the private sector. However, the country's political situation and a number of challenges that emerged in the past years delayed the project's advancement, and the CEVS is waiting for the new government to put forward the initiative.

The El Tablon project envisions the construction of a 20-megawatt (MW) hydropower plant on the Chamelecon River, in Santa Barbara, upstream of the industrial city of San Pedro Sula. The facility will boast a roller-compacted concrete dam to produce about 100 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity.

The Honduras' government is seeking $110 million in financing to undertake the project, which will probably take between three and four years to construct.

The facility will be used for power generation, flood control, irrigation and drinking water supplies. At the same time, the El Tablon initiative is considered by the CEVS authorities to be strong protection for the El Sula Valley.

Private investors have expressed interest in El Tablon, including groups from Switzerland and South Korea, while CEVS continues to consider the option of putting the project out to concession.

The project seeks to harness the country's renewable energy potential, which is now greatly disregarded, as Honduras is mostly dependent on thermo-power generation.

Of Honduras's total power generation, 60.8% comes from thermo, 35.4% from hydro and 3.8% from biomass.

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