Honduras’ Department of Energy has launched a strategy to boost the adoption of biogas on a small and medium scale. This new strategy targets improvements in three key areas: reinforcing the institutional, political, and regulatory framework; enhancing conditions for project financing; and focusing on capacity building. The strategy emphasizes a general lack of awareness about biogas’ potential for electricity generation and identifies the coffee industry as a central priority, given its widespread production across the nation.
Meanwhile, in Costa Rica, the legislative assembly’s energy committee has given the green light to a bill aimed at the “harmonization” of the electric power sector. This bill is designed to modernize the national electricity system, encourage the use of cutting-edge technologies, and foster new business models among industry players. Legislator Kattia Cambronero argues that competitive pricing and investments are necessary beyond the capital’s metro area. However, assembly member Sofía Guillén has voiced opposition, warning that the bill could dismantle the state power company ICE’s role in promoting solidarity and potentially drive up electricity costs.
In a related development, the Central American power interconnection commission, CRIE, is soliciting feedback on a proposed revision of the discount rate calculation method. This adjustment aims to include a control band to avoid excessively high values that might deter socially beneficial projects and prevent low values that could lead to economically inefficient projects.