[Energy people are watching, click on the upper right corner to add 'Follow'] Polaris Solar Photovoltaic Network News: Basic data of El Salvador El Salvador is the smallest country in China in Central and South America. The country's land area is only about 21,040 square kilomete

[Energy people are watching, click on the upper right corner to add 'Follow']

Polaris Solar Photovoltaic Network News: El Salvador Basic data

El Salvador is the smallest country in China in Central and South America. The country's land area is only about 21,040 square kilometers, and the total population is about 6.42 million. The GDP growth rate in 2018 is about 2.5%. In recent years, the GDP growth rate has also remained at about 2.3-2.5%. The economic performance has remained stable. International information review agencies Fitch and S&P both gave El Salvador B- evaluation, and the economic outlook is both stable.

Thanks to foreign investment in local communications and related industries such as electricity, the amount of foreign direct investment in El Salvador (FDI) in the first half of this year reached US$435.9 million, an increase of US$148.5 million compared with the same period last year, with a growth rate exceeding 50%.

In terms of climate, El Salvador has a tropical terrain climate, and the climate along the coast and lowlands is relatively humid and hot. The climate in the mountains is cooler. The climate of El Salvador is divided into dry season and rainy season throughout the year. The dry season is mainly from November to April of the following year, while the rainy season is around May to October each year. The average annual temperature in the country is about 17-25 degrees Celsius. The average daily sunshine per square meter in El Salvador can reach 5kWh.

Overview of the development of renewable energy in El Salvador

In order to achieve the goal vision of energy diversity in the 2010-2024 El Salvador National Energy Plan, in recent years, El Salvador has actively developed the renewable energy industry. So far, more than 60% of the national energy use in El Salvador is power generation using renewable energy.

El Salvador's renewable energy development center in recent years has focused on photovoltaic and wind power. So far, the country has launched renewable energy projects of about 94MW and 170MW in 2014 and 2016 respectively, of which photovoltaic 214MW and wind power is 50MW. On the other hand, it is also attributed to the significant cost reduction results of renewable energy. The overall bid price has also gradually decreased with the promotion of bidding cases, from the highest US$123.4/MWh in the first round to the lowest level of US$49.55/MWh in the second round.

In December last year, the official also released a 28MW renewable energy bidding, of which the photovoltaic planned bidding volume is 20MW and 8MW is biogas. The bidding results have not yet been released.

For future plans for renewable energy in El Salvador, the official has not issued any more recent policies, so the short-term estimate will mainly meet the needs of these bidding projects.

Salvador photovoltaic policy and development

Salvador photovoltaic development mainly relies on the bidding released by the government and the independent power station IPP project. As the above analysis, El Salvador has held two rounds of bidding so far, of which the photovoltaics have set out a total of about 214MW of demand. Among them, most bidding projects in 2014 have been completed before the end of 2018, and most bidding projects in 2016 have obtained financing before the end of 2018, and construction is expected to begin from 2019 to 2020. As of the end of 2018, the cumulative installation volume of El Salvador reached 184MW, of which the demand increased significantly in 2017, and is estimated to be mostly composed of bidding projects completed in 2014.

On the other hand, since the photovoltaic industry has not yet taken shape locally, most of the photovoltaic projects developed by El Salvador are completed with the assistance of overseas developers and overseas investment and financing institutions. For example, French power developers Neoen, Dutch Development Bank FMO, American energy company AES, etc. have invested in the development of independent power stations and bidding projects locally. Regarding the future development of photovoltaics and even new energy in El Salvador, the overall photovoltaic development plan of the country is still not clear. In the short term, market demand is expected to continue to be dominated by bidding and IPP projects. After all bidding projects are put into production, it may turn to IPP projects as the main demand support. Although the government has recently tried to work with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to jointly develop floating projects locally, the lack of overall policy planning has been estimated to be limited in the long-term development of photovoltaics.

Elclbd import and export analysis

As of the 1st to 3rd quarters of 2019, the number of components shipped from China to El Salvador reached 265MW (of which Jinko's shipment reached 230MW, accounting for nearly 90% of the total shipment). The demand for these components is estimated to be mainly used to meet the second round of bidding projects and independent power plant projects. If these components meet the needs of bidding projects this year, the component shipment volume is expected to decline significantly in 2020 with the support of independent power plant projects only relying on the support of independent power plant projects.

Conclusion

El Salvador is the smallest country in Central and South America. The promotion of renewable energy and photovoltaics uses bidding to instigate demand. The construction of local projects mainly depends on overseas developers and investment and financing institutions. So far, two rounds of large-scale renewable energy (including photovoltaic) bidding have been completed. From the aforementioned component shipment analysis, these projects may be completed in 2019, and the number of shipments to El Salvador may decline significantly in 2020. Regarding the future development of photovoltaics and even new energy in El Salvador, the government has not issued relevant policies to support it recently. In the short term, market demand is expected to continue to be dominated by bidding and IPP projects. After the bidding is fully put into production, it may turn to IPP projects as the main demand support.

Original title: Analysis of the demand for emerging global photovoltaic markets - Central and South America Region: El Salvador

Disclaimer: The above content is reprinted from Polaris Electric Power News Network, and the content posted does not represent the position of this platform.

National Energy Information Platform Contact number: 010-65367702, Email: [email protected], Address: People's Daily, No. 2, Jintai West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing