World Bank2012-03-192012-03-192011-01-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/2766The Central America Regional Electricity Market (MER) trades electricity and transmission capacity among six Central American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. The market differs from other electricity markets worldwide because it has its own regulatory body and system operator. Economic integration of the Central American countries has followed a natural evolution. The continuous increase in the demand for goods and services has been accompanied by political and institutional arrangements leading to the materialization of commercial and trade agreements aimed at benefiting the nationals of all the integrated nations at the lowest possible cost. This is particularly true in the electricity sector, which provides a key development service for the achievement of sustainable growth. In fact, electricity integration through cross-border power trade has been discussed by the Central American countries since the late 1970s. This report analyzes the progress of the Central American integrated electricity market, including the institutional, legal, regulatory and contractual framework of the MER and of each of the six national markets. It then identifies the main barriers that will have to be addressed in order to ensure a successful evolution to full operation of the Central American Electrical Interconnection System (SIEPAC) interconnection system and achieve true market integration.La interconexión del sistema de electricidad permite a los países intercambiar electricidad, exportar la electricidad excedente más allá de sus límites e importarla cuando su suministro es escaso. El estudio, “Integración energética regional: retos estructurales y regulatorios”, forma parte de una serie titulada “Estudio programático del sector energía para América Central”, con un enfoque primordial en el subsector eléctrico. En este subsector, un paso importante hacia la integración regional es la construcción de la línea de interconexión del SIEPAC, que une a Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua y Panamá. Este informe fue diseñado para analizar las necesidades a medio y largo plazo, promover el desarrollo de un mercado regional energético y minimizar los costos a largo plazo, aspectos que forman parte de los objetivos principales del proyecto SIEPAC. El documento examina las distintas alternativas para adaptar el marco regulatorio vigente, con el fin de analizar el desarrollo del suministro y el comercio regional. Contiene información de cada una de los mercados nacionales y sus reglas existentes para la inclusión de las transacciones internacionales. Asimismo, analiza el marco legal, regulatorio e institucional del Mercado Eléctrico Regional (MER) y las barreras existentes para su desarrollo, sugiriendo algunos cursos de acción que podrían servir para superarlas.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CAPITALAPPROACHARBITRATION MECHANISMSARBITRATION PROCEDURESAUCTIONSAVAILABILITYBALANCEBID PRICEBIDDINGBIOMASSCAPITAL COSTSCLIMATECOCOALCOAL PLANTSCOLORSCOMMERCIALIZATIONCOMMON MARKETCOMPETITIVE BIDDINGCOMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCEDURESCOMPETITIVE PROCESSESCONCESSIONSCONTRACT MARKETCONTRACT PERIODSCOSTS OF ELECTRICITYDEBT SERVICINGDEMAND GROWTHDIESELDIFFERENTIAL PRICINGDISTRIBUTION CHARGESDISTRIBUTION COMPANIESDOMESTIC MARKETSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC INTEGRATIONECONOMIES OF SCALEEFFICIENCY GAINSEFFICIENT POWER PLANTSELECTRICITYELECTRICITY CONSUMERSELECTRICITY CONSUMPTIONELECTRICITY DEMANDELECTRICITY DEMAND GROWTHELECTRICITY GENERATIONELECTRICITY INDUSTRYELECTRICITY LAWELECTRICITY PRICEELECTRICITY PRICESELECTRICITY PRODUCTIONELECTRICITY SALESELECTRICITY SECTORELECTRICITY SUPPLYELECTRICITY SYSTEMSELECTRIFICATIONENERGY CONSUMPTIONENERGY CRISISENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATIONENERGY INTENSITYENERGY POLICYENERGY PRODUCTIONENERGY SECURITYENERGY SERVICESENERGY SOURCESENERGY SYSTEMENERGY USEEXCESS POWERFAIRFEASIBILITY STUDIESFINANCIAL CONSEQUENCESFINANCIAL RESOURCESFINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITYFOREIGN INVESTMENTFREE MARKETFREE TRADEFUELFUEL CONSUMPTIONFUEL COSTSFUEL OILFUEL PRICEFUEL PRICESGAS SUPPLIESGAS TURBINESGENERATIONGENERATION CAPACITYGENERATION COSTSGENERATION MIXGENERATORSGEOTHERMAL ENERGYGEOTHERMAL RESOURCESGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHORIZONTAL INTEGRATIONHYDROCARBONSHYDROELECTRIC PLANTSHYDROELECTRIC POTENTIALHYDROELECTRIC POWERHYDROELECTRIC POWER GENERATIONHYDROPOWERINCOMEINDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERSINTERNATIONAL INVESTORSINVESTMENT CLIMATEINVESTMENT COSTSKILOWATT HOURLIQUEFIED NATURAL GASLNGLNG TERMINALLOAD FACTORLOWER COSTSMARGINAL COSTMARGINAL COSTSMARKET CONDITIONSMARKET DEVELOPMENTMARKET INTEGRATIONMARKET POWERMARKET PRICEMARKET PRICESMARKET REFORMSMARKET REGULATIONMARKET RULESMARKET SUPPLYMONOPOLYNATIONAL GRIDNATURAL GASNATURAL GAS TRANSMISSIONOILOIL EQUIVALENTOIL IMPORTSOIL PRICEOIL PRICESOIL PRODUCTIONOIL PRODUCTSOIL RESOURCESOPEN ACCESSOWNERSHIP STRUCTUREPEAK DEMANDPETROLEUMPOLICY MAKERSPOWERPOWER COMPANIESPOWER CONTRACTSPOWER DEMANDPOWER GENERATIONPOWER GENERATION FACILITIESPOWER INDUSTRYPOWER MARKETSPOWER PLANTPOWER PLANTSPOWER PRODUCERPOWER PRODUCERSPOWER PRODUCTIONPOWER PURCHASEPOWER PURCHASE AGREEMENTSPOWER PURCHASING AGREEMENTSPOWER SECTORPOWER SECTOR DEVELOPMENTPOWER SECTORSPOWER SHORTAGESPOWER SUPPLYPOWER SYSTEMPOWER SYSTEMSPOWER TRADEPOWER TRANSACTIONSPRICE BIDSPRICE CONTROLSPRICE VOLATILITYPRICING PRINCIPLESPRIMARY ENERGYPRIMARY ENERGY SUPPLYPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICE PROVIDERPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC UTILITIESPURCHASINGREGULATORY FRAMEWORKRENEWABLE ENERGYRENEWABLE ENERGY POTENTIALRENEWABLE GENERATIONRENEWABLE POWERRESERVE REQUIREMENTSRESIDENTIAL PRICESRESIDUAL FUELRETAILRETAIL COMPETITIONRETAIL ELECTRICITYRETAIL ELECTRICITY PRICESRETAIL PRICESRETAIL TARIFFSSALESERVICE PROVIDERSSOURCE OF ELECTRICITYSPOT MARKETSPOT PRICESUBSTITUTESUPPLIERSUPPLY COSTSSURPLUSSURPLUSESTHERMAL CAPACITYTHERMAL PLANTSTOLLSTOTAL DEMANDTOTAL SALESTRANSMISSION CAPACITYTRANSMISSION GRIDTRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURETRANSMISSION LINETRANSMISSION LINESTRANSMISSION LOSSESTRANSMISSION SYSTEMTRANSMISSION SYSTEMSVERTICAL INTEGRATIONWATER CONCESSIONSWHOLESALE COMPETITIONWHOLESALE ELECTRICITYWHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKETWHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKETSWHOLESALE MARKETWHOLESALE MARKETSWHOLESALE PRICEWINDWorld Bank10.1596/2766