El Salvador to enter LNG regas era (Part I)

Houston-based Cutuco Energy is planning to start construction of a long overdue regas terminal and 525MW gas-fired power installation at the port of La Unión in El Salvador. When built, it’ll be the first regas terminal of its kind in Central America.

I don’t have fine details of the project but it’s significant considering that Central America has been paying an arm and a leg for crude and LPG. I’ll post more information as I get it.

A presidential summit of Plan Puebla Panama (PPP), a bloc comprising seven Central American nations, nine southern Mexican states and Colombia, approved a regional energy framework on April 10 that aims to raise the role of dry gas in such countries with the help of offshore gas discoveries in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and pipeline imports.

El Salvadorian President Elias Antonio Saca said at the summit in Campeche in southern Mexico that studies show that offshore Central American has gas potential. Gas and other energy sources, such as biofuels, would help the region lessen its dependence on oil, he said.

Colombia’s entry in October as the newest member of the PPP has raised hopes that future gas imports to Central America could come from there as well as from Venezuela. Mexico could also export pipeline gas to the region.