Overview
The flagship project aims to consolidate, promote and transform the Central America Regional Electricity Market (REM) to achieve its full potential. Deeper electricity integration would help increase regional GDP by an estimated 0.3%.
Upgrading the REM from a short-term surplus market to one that includes long-term transactions and connects to extra-regional markets, requires overcoming challenges related to governance, regulation, infrastructure, environment & climate, and politics. For this purpose, Team Europe will mobilise:
- Technical assistance in the field of planning, capacity building, policy and regulatory frameworks, institutional support, energy security and resilience, environmental and social standards, etc.
- Financing for building energy infrastructure in the field of generation, transmission, interconnection and distribution.
- guarantees for the financing of private sector investment.
Possible investment projects include the second circuit of the regional interconnexion system SIEPAC, improvements in the national transmission systems, extra-regional connections to Colombia and possibly Mexico, renewable energy initiatives contributing to the generation capacity of the region.
Milestones
- Definition of the investment projects to be included in the EIB loans aimed at strengthening the MER
- Endorsement of regional energy integration as a political priority at the IV EU-CELAC
- Presentation of the Team Europe offer to OLADE (LAC ministers of energy)
- Set up of an REM working group gathering interested EU private sector companies
