Guatemala Taps Coffee Farms For Hydro Power
Date: 20-Nov-08
Country: GUATEMALA
Author: Sarah Grainger
The government relaxed regulations last month so individuals can sell electricity from their plants, usually run by rivers or waterfalls on their property, to the government and businesses for a profit.
At Finca Los Tarrales, water gushing down the slopes of a volcano near San Lucas Toliman in the central highlands is channelled into pipes, snaking through the rainforest to a small 30-kilowatt generator, enough for 500 60-watt light bulbs.
The mechanism installed in 1977 is not much bigger than a car engine and hums away inside a small brick hut built to shelter it during the rainy season.
The farm uses about a third of the power it generates for both processing their coffee and lighting their buildings, but if Los Tarrales connected to the national grid, the other 20 kilowatts could be sold.
It would be a welcome relief to farmer Andy Burge who has seen coffee prices fall recently to their lowest in over a year as the global financial crisis weighs on commodity markets.
"If we just grew coffee, we wouldn't get anywhere. Sustainability in agriculture is very difficult to achieve, and already we have to grow ornamental plants, cultivate honey and host tourists in order to make ends meet," he said.
BIG DAMS STALLED
Impoverished Central America, heavily dependent on imported oil for its energy, has been hit hard by record oil prices.
Even with oil dropping recently from almost $150 a barrel in July to below $54 Wednesday, hydroelectricity is still considered a good investment.
"It's the cheapest source of energy in the long run. These projects are not dependent on the short-term volatility of the oil market," said Roger Tissot, an energy analyst at the Institute of the Americas, a think tank in San Diego.
Guatemala could potentially produce over 5,000 megawatts of hydro power with large dams and small generators, said Marco Antonio Davila, an official at the state electric company, far exceeding the 1,500 megawatts currently consumed.
Guatemala's electricity needs are likely to double by 2020, but there is still a potential to generate a surplus.
Most of the additional electricity will likely come from three large dams, still in the planning stages, that would cost close to $1 billion to develop.
But the left-leaning government of President Alvaro Colom is also betting on small, privately owned hydroelectric projects, which could generate 1,000 megawatts, about half of that from coffee farms.
Some say the government will need to invest more to help small producers connect to the grid without a loss, but the tiny plants may still be easier to jump start than large dams, which have run up against local opposition.
Investors showed no interest in recent bidding for the concession for the contentious 181-megawatt Xalala dam. Local Mayans have protested against the project, which is expected to cost up to $400 million, fearing their land will be flooded.
A government inspector was murdered in 2006 doing routine surveys of the dam site, raising tensions in the area.
(Editing by Christian Wiessner)