Panama expects total energy demand to more than double between 2017 and 2030 (+113%), with peak demand growing from 1.6 GW to 3.5 GW. Panama is currently connected to Costa Rica via a 300 MW transmission line. A 400 MW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector with Colombia is expected to be commissioned by 2022.
In 2017, Panama’s power system had very large installed hydropower capacity (54% of total capacity) and substantial VRE capacity (45.3%). The generation breakdown was 64% renewable energy (36% run-of-river hydro, 18% reservoir hydro, 8% wind, 2% solar photovoltaics (PV)) and 36% thermal generation (29% oil and 7% coal).
Publication for the application will be released in February of this year. Panama has launched a 500MW tender auction for renewables and energy storage, the first in Central America to include storage.
Panama depends heavily on fossil fuels, which have historically accounted for roughly two-thirds of total primary energy supply. The country’s transport sector has until recently relied almost entirely on oil and oil products.
The largest source in the electricity mix is hydropower, followed by thermal generation (oil products and coal). Wind and solar power came on line in 2013, and by 2016 Panama had 270 MW of installed wind power capacity and 90 MW of installed solar power capacity (SNE, 2015).
These include the energy and environmental engineering course ofered by the Technological University of Panama (UTP) at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels, and upcoming degrees at the University of Panama (UP) in electricity and renewable energy engineering.