CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has published a special report titled 'Central American and the Caribbean Power Sector'.
According to the report, the Central American and Caribbean power sectors are closely linked with the performance of the region's governments due to the socioeconomic and regulatory nature of these countries.
'While the region is expected to invest significantly in increasing firm generation capacity over the medium term, state intervention in the industry is high, with governments involved in subsidies, ownership, and rate setting. This is one of the main challenges to attracting private investment over the coming years', says Lucas Aristizabal, Director at Fitch.
Given the economic growth expected for the region and the countries' relatively low reserve margins, major plans for expanding generation are being promoted. Generation from renewable sources is being encouraged, which involves significant capital expenditures for the sector. However, in order to attract the financing necessary for these investments, transparent, stable regulatory frameworks must be put in place to ensure stable flows, which are necessary to sustain the investments made.
'In the medium term, the completion of Central America's intraregional transmission grid (the Sistema de Interconexion Electrica de los Paises de America Central, SIEPAC) could allow for sales of surplus electricity among Central American countries, as well as Colombia and Mexico. In the Dominican Republic, expanding capacity and improving efficiency will be key to meeting the energy demand foreseen', says Allan Lewis, Associate Director at Fitch. According to Jose Luis Rivas, Associate Director at Fitch, 'government intervention can be measured by the extent to which the sector is subsidized, with subsidies being low in Costa Rica, moderate in Panama and El Salvador, and high in the Dominican Republic due in general to outdated rates and high levels of electricity losses.'
Fitch will hold a teleconference in Spanish, followed by a teleconference in English on Wednesday, March 9, to discuss the report. The analysts participating in the call are Lucas Aristizabal (Director) in Chicago, Erick Campos (Managing Director), Vanessa Villalobos (Associate Director) and Allan Lewis (Associate Director) in Costa Rica and Julio Ugueto (Associate Director) in Venezuela. The Spanish-language teleconference will take place at 11:00 AM EST, whereas the English-language teleconference will be held at 12:00 noon. Interested persons should dial in 10 minutes prior to the conference of their choice and provide the conference ID#: 49666420 (Spanish) and 49669439 (English).
The free dial-in numbers are as follows:
U.S. and Canada: +1-877-233-9813
Argentina: 0800-666-0273
Brazil:
0800-891-6189
Chile: 123 0020-6168
Colombia: 0180 0710-1686
Costa
Rica: 080 0013-0990
Dominican Republic: 188 8751-2305
Mexico:
00 186-6403-7413
Panama: 0-0180-0201-8157
Peru: 0 8005-2957
Uruguay:
000 4019-0120
Venezuela: 0-80-0100-2762
Bolivia: 80 010-0835
Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com.
Applicable Criteria and Related Research: Central America and the Caribbean Power Sector
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