Publication: Nicaragua Policy Strategy for the Promotion of Renewable Energy: Geothermal Energy Component
Loading...
Published
2006-01
ISSN
Date
2021-12-08
Editor(s)
Abstract
The objective of this study is to support Nicaragua's Comision Nacional de Energia (CNE) in preparing and implementing new policy and strategy to encourage the private sector to participate in the development of electrical generation from geothermal energy. The study includes: 1) evaluation of the potential market for electricity generation via geothermal energy in Nicaragua, 2) analysis of the existing barriers (legal, regulatory, financial, and so on) to geothermal energy development in Nicaragua and proposed options for the elimination of these barriers, and 3) provide CNE with a policies and strategy framework that will serve as a basis for an implementation program to stimulate the development of geothermal electricity generation. This report provides an introduction to commonly utilized contracting structures that offer lessons learned from other countries. It also discusses the specific approaches taken by a number of the countries more active in privatized geothermal development and considers some views from the international financing community.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Energy Sector Management Assistance Program. 2006. Nicaragua Policy Strategy for the Promotion of Renewable Energy: Geothermal Energy Component. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36673 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Assessing and Mapping Renewable Energy Resources, Second Edition(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-12)Understanding the location and potential of renewable energy resources is a crucial pre-requisite to their utilization, and to scaling up clean and secure sources of electricity generation such as biomass, small hydropower, solar, and wind. However many countries do not have high quality, publicly available data on renewable energy resource potential and this limits the potential for informed policy development, including zoning guidance, transmission network planning, and price regulation or incentives. It also narrows the field of potential commercial developers, and raises the cost of undertaking preliminary site identification and financial analyses. This report draws on many years of experience within the World Bank Group and among other development partners in carrying out renewable energy resource assessment and mapping at the country level, in particular from 12 projects funded by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) under a major global initiative launched in 2012. The report’s purpose is to explain, for a wide range of audiences, the importance of resource assessment and mapping, key steps and good practices, methodological issues, and potential sources for further advice and support.Publication Grid Integration Requirements for Variable Renewable Energy(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-07)This technical guide is the first in a series of four technical guides on variable renewable energy (VRE) grid integration produced by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank and the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership (GSEP). It provides a general overview of the intrinsic characteristics of VRE generation, mainly solar PV and wind, what the main challenges are along with some recommendations for VRE technical specifications, applicable standards, and essential testing. The main focus of the document presents a detailed outline of the essential requirements for VRE integration into the power grid. The requirements differ for different levels of penetration but would require fundamental grid compliance requirements that must be reflected in any grid. This document provides these requirements along with recommendations of advanced VRE integration requirements that could be reflected in the power system operations with these VRE resources. The compliance with the technical requirements where applicable is validated through extensive series of interconnection studies which are further elaborated in "STUDIES FOR GRID CONNECTION OF VARIABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION PLANTS – Technical Guide 3".Publication Compensation Devices to Support Grid Integration of Variable Renewable Energy(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-07)This technical guide is the second in a series of four technical guides on variable renewable energy (VRE) grid integration produced by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank and the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership (GSEP). It focuses on the main functionalities, differences and benefits of various compensation devices that can be employed to increase system transfer capacity, system stability, power quality and flexibility to cope with increasing penetrations of renewables in the system. The applications of FACTS devices are associated with four essential technical enhancements of system capacity, system reliability, power quality and system controllability. The application of the FACTS devices for these enhancements would depend on the system needs which would be identified and recommended through the power system studies during the interconnection process. Power system studies are further elaborated in "STUDIES FOR GRID CONNECTION OF VARIABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION PLANTS – Technical Guide 3".Publication The Energy Efficient Cities Initiative Practitioners' Roundtable(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-11)Cities represent a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to the United Nations Population Fund,1 half of the world's population now lives in cities and is responsible for 75% of global energy use and GHG emissions. Since the world's population will continue to grow, and rapid urbanization will continue particularly in the developing world, tackling climate change issues in the urban context will be essential. In response to these challenges, the World Bank's Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), in cooperation with the Bank?s Finance Economics and Urban Department (FEU), has launched an Energy Efficient Cities Initiative, which is designed to help mainstream and scale-up sustainable energy and climate change mitigation actions and investments in the urban context. The first activity proposed under this Initiative is the Energy Efficient Cities Practitioners Roundtable, a facilitated discussion cohosted by ESMAP and FEU. The purpose of this event was to bring together client cities and partner organizations to investigate ongoing initiatives and programs to support cities' sustainable energy goals needs and develop an Energy Efficient Cities Action Plan that will outline a vision and subsequent actions to be taken under the Initiative. The event took place at the Washington DC offices of the World Bank, from October 20-21, 2008.Publication A Strategy for Coal Bed Methane and Coal Mine Methane Development and Utilization in China(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007)China is short of clean energy, particularly conventional natural gas. The proven per capital natural gas reserve is only 1/12th of the world average. However, China has large coal bed methane (CBM) resources with development potential which can be recovered from surface boreholes independent of mining and in advance of mining, and also captured as a part of underground coal mining operations. However, in order to meet its targets, the government must improve the administrative framework for CBM resource management, introduce more effective CBM or coal mine methane (CMM) development incentives, raise the technical capacity of the mining sector, expand gas pipeline infrastructure and promote gas markets in coal mining areas. In order to significantly reduce methane emission from coal mines and better exploit the gas recoverable from coal seams, the government should introduce measures to: strengthen the CBM/CMM policy, legal and regulatory framework to improve resource management; improve CMM availability and quality so more can be utilized; enhance incentives to promote expansion of CBM/CMM exploitation and destruction of surplus drained CMM; and Promote development of regional development strategies to take advantage of specific local advantages.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Kyrgyz Republic Country Climate and Development Report(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-03)This Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) on the Kyrgyz Republic aims to support the country’s development goals amid a changing climate. The CCDR considers two policy scenarios up to 2050: the business-as-usual (BAU) and high-growth scenarios. As it quantifies the likely impacts of climate change on the Kyrgyz economy between now and 2050, the report highlights key government actions to best prepare for and adapt to climate impacts (referred to as “with adaptation” measures), with a particular focus on the time horizon up to 2030. The CCDR also outlines a path to net zero emissions by 2050 (referred to as “with mitigation” measures, “decarbonization,” or, simply, “net zero 2050”), highlighting associated development co-benefits.Publication Taxes, Spending, and Equity: International Patterns and Lessons for Developing Countries(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-17)Taxes and public spending underpin the basic administration of government and finance the human capital and infrastructure investments needed for economic growth. They can also have a significant and immediate impact on poverty and inequality. The question of how public finance can support longer-term growth objectives while promoting equity has become even more important in recent years, given the high fiscal deficits and debt levels most countries emerged with in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. These included the increasing cost of debt and the need to restart environmentally sustainable growth while helping households address the learning losses and other social scars caused by the pandemic. This paper examines the global evidence on which households pay which taxes and who benefits from what spending, and critically, the net effect on different households across the income distribution. The aim is to identify the patterns and lessons that emerge for designing progressive fiscal policies. A global dataset of 96 countries is assembled, spanning all regions of the world and all national income levels, grounded in the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) approach to fiscal incidence.Publication Continental Drying: A Threat to Our Common Future(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-04)Grounded in new evidence from satellite data, “Continental Drying: A Threat to Our Common Future” presents the first global assessment of freshwater reserves over the past two decades. The findings expose an alarming trend of “continental drying,” a persistent long-term decline in freshwater availability across vast landmasses. Not only are droughts and deluges becoming more unpredictable, but the total amount of freshwater available for use has also significantly declined. Continental drying, driven by global warming, worsening droughts, and unsustainable water and land use, is a silent but accelerating crisis—largely unknown to the public—that reshapes the global water narrative. Continental drying raises profound risks. This report reveals new empirical evidence showing how freshwater depletion leads to major job losses, reduced incomes, wildfires, and biodiversity threats. In the long term, the combined effects of drying and warming could push societies toward a tipping point where damage accelerates rapidly and adaptation becomes increasingly difficult. Against the backdrop of continental drying, global water consumption rose by 25 percent between 2000 and 2019, with about a third of this increase occurring in regions already experiencing drying. Compounding the pressure, a substantial share of water use in drying regions remains inefficient. Continental Drying identifies hot spots where rising demand and declining supply converge and explores where and how water savings can be realized. This report recommends a three-pronged approach to address the crisis: managing demand, augmenting water supply, and improving water allocation. Five cross-cutting levers—strengthening institutions, reforming water tariffs and repurposing subsidies, adopting water accounting, leveraging data and technological innovations, and valuing water in trade—are essential for effective implementation and to attract private investment to finance the approach. Beyond water, addressing trade barriers, investing in education and skills development, and improving access to markets and financial services are critical for strengthening job and livelihood resilience amid a continental drying crisis.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Direct and Indirect Impacts of Transport Mobility on Access to Jobs: Evidence from South Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-12)Access to jobs is essential for economic growth. In Africa, unemployment rates are notably high. This paper reexamines the relationship between transport mobility and labor market outcomes, with a particular focus on the direct and indirect effects of transport connectivity. As predicted by theory, wages are influenced by the level of commuting deterrence. Generally, higher earnings are associated with longer commute times and/or higher commuting costs. Local accessibility is also important, especially for individuals with time constraints. Both direct and indirect impacts are found to be significant in South Africa, where job accessibility has been challenging since the end of apartheid. For the direct impact, the wage elasticity associated with commuting costs is significant. Returns on commute are particularly high for women. Local accessibility to socioeconomic facilities, such as shops and health services, is also found to have a significant impact, consistent with the concept of mobility of care. To enhance employment, therefore, it is crucial to connect people not only to job locations but also to various socioeconomic points of interest, such as markets and hospitals, in an integrated manner. This integration will enable individuals to spend more time working and commuting longer distances.