Government authorities have signed agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency, although it is unknown when and how the process will begin. If it were realized, El Salvador would be the first country in Central America to have this controversial resource.
El Salvador will venture into the use of nuclear energy, as transcended after the Director General of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines, Daniel Álvarez and Vice-Chancellor Adriana Mira, shared on the X social network that had signed legal instruments – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the peaceful use of this energy, although they did not give further details of how and when that investment would be made. Nor if there are technical studies to support it.
Our task and goal is to decarbonize the energy matrix and boost the development of our country. The use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is an important starting point for our energy sector. “This day we have taken great steps; what they haven’t done in more than 40 years, we have done in one,” Álvarez published.
If it were realized, El Salvador would be the first country in Central America to have this controversial resource. Until the closure of 2023, according to the IAEA there are 30 countries with nuclear power plants in the world, which means 412 plants. Of these, there are 7 in Latin America: 2 of them in Mexico, 2 in Brazil and 3 in Argentina.
These three plants generate 5,077 MW of energy.
The Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) estimates that nuclear energy accounts for 2 per cent of installed capacity in the region.
According to the international body – electricity demand will increase by between 60 % and 100 per cent from now to 2030. Low-carbon energy sources, such as nuclear energy, minimize greenhouse gases emitting when generating energy and mitigating the negative effects of climate change on development, part of its report points out.
At the end of 2023, El Salvador’s energy matrix consisted of 42.4% of non-renewable resources. 33.6% liquefied gas and 9.4% bunker. The remaining renewable resources, such as hydroelectric resources, which accounted for 20.11 of the matrix, in the same way and geothermal, with a weight of 20%, photovoltaic 7.31%, biomass 7.2% and wind 2.2%, according to the report of the Directorate General of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in La Prensa Grafica