BRIEFS. energy
Canal electricity sales to rise sharply in 2009
| Maydée Romero/LA PRENSA |
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| Provider: The Panama Canal Authority generates 100 megawatts of thermal energy every day for its own use and sells any excess.1035697 |
The Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) estimates that it will generate $148.9 million from the sale of electrical energy in 2009, an increase of $42.9 million over the budget approved for 2008.
The ACP supplies 12 percent to 15 percent of the electrical energy consumed in Panama. In 2007, its energy sales amounted to $95.5 million. Sales for 2008 are estimated at $99.7 million. Sales in 2009 are expected to increase markedly to $148.8 million.
"We'll have two new plants of 16 megawatts each," explained the Canal administrator, Alberto Alemán Zubieta.
The installed capacity of the ACP is 130 megawatts, including two gas turbines that run on diesel and are used only in case of an emergency, as occurred recently when the Fortuna and Bayano reservoirs dropped to critical levels for lack of rain.
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