The process for the construction of the biogas power plant on the Acelhuate River is advancing at a good pace, assured the Lempa River Hydroelectric Executive Commission (CEL).
The autonomous’s president, Daniel lvarez, told “Diario El Salvador” that the project is 85% complete in terms of drawing up plans for the plant’s final design.Likewise, the environmental impact study has advanced 50%, «We are going in the stipulated times, the planning is underway and we are on the way. We hope that by the end of this year we can already be bidding for the construction of the biogas plant on the Acelhuate River», he stated.
In addition, he indicated that the megaproject will cost $36 million, but it may vary depending on the planning and final designs.
A few months ago, the autonomous company, together with the designers of the Fichtner/EC consortium, inspected the areas where the 3.2-kilometer-long collector will be placed, which will transport the wastewater that is currently discharged without treatment into the river basin until the future plant.
To move forward with this process, CEL acquired 59.13% of the land for the plant, and according to Álvarez, it is expected that by the end of the year, 100% of the land will be completed and the bidding for the construction of the plant will begin.
“The acquisition of land is underway and we have a rapprochement with the communities. We are testing the water to see how it is right now and thus will analyze when the plant is already operating where the impact will be measured,” the official commented.
The head of CEL said that studies have shown that El Salvador is a country with a high percentage of heavy metals in the water and high contamination. However, the project will allow the decontamination of the Urbina, Tomayate, Acelhuate, and Lempa rivers, the latter being the main resource for generating electricity for Salvadoran families.
According to the institution’s specifications, the collector will combine thrust technology with conventional technology. Therefore, the plant will have a substation to interconnect the three energy sources: biogas, photovoltaic, and mini-hydroelectric.
The power to install these three technologies amounts to 25 gigawatts per hour (GWh) per year, of which 75% will be generated with the extracted biogas. This plant will allow the supply of energy to more than 21,000 Salvadoran families with a consumption of 100 kilowatts per hour (KWh).
CEL maintains that this new electrical terminal will not only allow energy to be generated but will also have a social and environmental component since it will bring benefits to the nearby families of the Acelhuate river basin since it will prevent the discharge of more than 43 million cubic meters of raw sewage per year without being treated.