CEL's president, Daniel Álvarez, explained that today they are closing a process that had fallen into lethargy in order to execute the construction of two new Geothermal Plants.

The San Vicente and Chinameca plants together will inject 30 Megawatts (MW) to the national electricity market, allowing the maximum use of the so-called white oil, however, in its second phase is expected to reach 50 MW of energy.

Currently, geothermal energy represents 25% of the national electricity market, with the production of the Ahuachapán Geothermal Power Plant and the Berlin Geothermal Power Plant, which together generate 190 megawatts, and CEL expects that together with other renewable sources they will represent 100% of the country's energy generation.

The competitions are carried out under the "Build, Operate and Transfer" modality, better known as BOT, a legal process protected by current legislation.

Through this system the investment in 20 years will be recovered by CEL, with this we are encouraging private investment.

Several international companies with vast experience in geothermal energy participated in the bidding process; however, as the qualification and evaluation process progressed, only three companies reached the final stage for both projects.

Translated by: A.M