Bahía las Minas power station
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Bahía las Minas power station is a three-unit, 120-megawatt (MW) coal-fired plant located in Bahía las Minas, Panama.[1]
Location
The map below shows the plant, located in Bahía las Minas, Cativá, Colón, Panama
Background
Comprising a 120 MW coal-fired power plant and a 160 MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant[2], Bahía las Minas power station is Panama's largest generator of electricity.[3] Originally built and commissioned in 1988[4] as a two-unit diesel-fired plant[5], it was converted to run partially on coal in 2011.[6]
In December 2018 workers at the plant staged a walk-out to protest the plant's possible closure in January 2019 when it was projected to run out of operating capital.[7] The government of President Juan Carlos Varela subsequently agreed to contribute 19 million balboas and Grupo Celsia agreed to contribute 20 million balboas toward keeping the plant operating.[8] However, in June 2019, Panama's executive branch ruled that Bahía las Minas needed to compete in the upcoming energy tender administered by state energy agency ETESA as a precondition for receiving the government's share of the funds.[9] The energy tender took place in February 2020, and Bahía las Minas was successful in its bid for a short-term contract to supply energy through December 2022.[10]
As of May 2021, discussions had begun with the Panamanian government regarding the closure or reconversion of the coal-fired power plant by approximately 2024.[11] In June 2021, Panamanian president Laurentino Cortizo announced that the country's existing coal plants would be retired or converted to cleaner fuels by the end of 2023.[12]
Initial reports indicated that decommissioning the financially challenged Bahía Las Minas plant might take up to two years, during which period the plant would need to remain available to the national grid.[13] However, in September 2021 Panama's public services regulator ASEP authorized disconnection of Bahía las Minas from the grid[12], and Celsia CEO Ricardo Serra stated that decommissioning would take place by the end of 2021.[14] Celsia's financial report for the fourth quarter of 2021 indicated that the Bahía Las Minas plant had ceased generating power and that all of its assets had been liquidated.[15]
Project Details
- Sponsor: Celsia[3]
- Parent company: Grupo Argos S.A.[16]
- Location: Bahía las Minas, Cativá, Colón, Panama
- Coordinates: 9.379612, -79.821886 (exact)
- Status: Retired[12][15]
- Gross Capacity: 120 MW[3]
- In service: 2011[6]
- Retirement date: 2021[12][15]
- Type: Subcritical
- Coal Type: Bituminous[5]
- Coal Source:
- Source of financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bahía las Minas Coal Power Plant, IndustryAbout, May 1, 2019
- ↑ "BAHÍA LAS MINAS" (PDF). Celsia. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Centrales termoelectricas". Celsia. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ↑ "Historia del servicio de energía en Panamá". ETESA. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Plan de Expansión del Sistema Interconectado Nacional 2018–2032" (PDF). ETESA. 2018.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Proyecto de carbón de BLM costó $165 millones". La Prensa Panamá. June 9, 2011.
- ↑ Bahía Las Minas y Gobierno exploran alternativas, La Estrella de Panamá, Dec. 22, 2018
- ↑ Celsia y govierno de Panama acuerdan aporte en planta de balia las minas, Valora Analitik, Dec. 31, 2018
- ↑ "Los arrastres de Bahía Las Minas". La Prensa. August 4, 2019.
- ↑ "RESOLUCIÓN DE ADJUDICACIÓN - LPI No.ETESA 02-19 - ETESA - Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica". ETESA. March 31, 2020.
- ↑ "Avanzan las negociaciones para el cierre o reconversión definitiva de centrales a carbón en Panamá". Energía Estratégica. May 12, 2021.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "Deudas y cambio climático acorralan planta de carbón". Observatorio SAOT (Sociedad, Ambiente y Ordenamiento Territorial) (in español). October 4, 2021.
- ↑ "Bahía Las Minas cerraría por problemas financieros". The World News. April 29, 2021.
- ↑ "Panama shutters last coal-fired power plant". BNamericas. September 28, 2021.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 "Financial Results 4th Quarter – 2021 (pp 10, 15)" (PDF). Celsia. May 2022.
- ↑ "Sobre nosotros". Celsia. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
