Nicaragua: Pantasma Hydro Power Plant to Begin Operations in July 2013

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Researched by Industrial Info Latin America (Córdoba, Argentina)--Grupo Saret (Alajuela, Costa Rica) will begin commercial operations at the Pantasma hydro power plant near Jinotega, Nicaragua, on July 5, 2013.

The facility has a reservoir with a capacity of 250,000 liters of water. The concrete spillway dam is 37.5 meters long and 19 meters high, and it will be equipped with two 9-megawatt (MW) Pelton Voith Hydro turbine generator sets to allow the production of 18 MW of clean and renewable energy.

Construction began in 2011 and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2013. The total investment value of the project is estimated to be $33 million, and more than 100 people are expected to be employed. The project was contracted to Hydro Pantasma (Managua, Nicaragua), a subsidiary of Grupo Saret, for 15 years, after which it will be transferred to the government of Nicaragua.

Nicaragua has been switching to renewable energy sources to reduce its dependence on oil in thermal power plants. Currently, most of the electricity is generated in power stations operated with bunker, a petroleum derivative.

Grupo Saret, a Costa Rica business corporation, specialized in the generation of energy using renewable resources. It has a portfolio of more than 190 MW in hydroelectric projects, with a total investment of $400 million. It currently operates the Guanacaste windfarm (50 MW) and General hydro power plant (40 MW).

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