Assessing El Salvador’s Energy Sector

By: Todd Smith, GMU Student Contributor

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

El Salvador provides a fantastic case study into the energy sector and how size is not necessary to promote transitions to renewable energy. Through various policies drafted and passed over the past three decades, El Salvador has set itself on a path towards clean energy – a necessity for a country that is severely at-risk of climate change and its effects.

In the following paper, I attempt to provide pertinent, contextual background information on El Salvador’s geography, economy, trade, and energy mix to show where they have succeeded, and where work can still be done.

I am not the first to conduct such an analysis, as the Salvadoran government and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) have worked to create a National Energy Policy 2010 – 2024 and a Renewable Readiness Report, respectively. In addition, this Renewable Readiness Report is now driving additions and changes to the National Energy Policy 2020 – 2050. I analyzed these sources and, once again, identified areas of strength, pain points, and opportunities for improvement.

Ultimately, I recommend three different policy recommendations:

1. Offer feed-in tariffs for renewable energy investors, to include research into a regional feed-in tariff system with neighboring trade partners;
2. Increase institutional capacities surrounding renewables, specifically geothermal. Create a “one-stop shop” for administrative processes and procedures;
3. Champion gender equity efforts in El Salvador’s energy sector, such as DELSUR.

1. INTRODUCTION

El Salvador is sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, and Honduras, it is the smallest country in Central America by land size with about 21,000 square kilometers of land, and is by no means a major tourist destination. And yet, El Salvador turns out to be a unique and interesting perspective and case study for the Energy sector.

Geographically, El Salvador sits near three different tectonic plates and associated fault lines. Millions of years ago, these plates bumped together and created volcanoes throughout the country. Despite its 20,000 square kilometers in size,[1] El Salvador contains 20 volcanoes, of which six remain active today.[2] For energy purposes, volcanoes provide major sources for geothermal power. El Salvador also contains 307 kilometers of Pacific Ocean coastline, four main lakes: Coatepeque, Ilopango, Suchitlan, and Guija, and approximately 350 rivers. While I will not attempt to name all 350 rivers, one in particular worth noting is the Rio Lempa, El Salvador’s longest river at 422 kilometers, running from the northwest towards the east before  turning towards the south and emptying into the Pacific Ocean.[3] The Rio Lempa is the main source of hydroelectric power within El Salvador, with the four main dams sitting on it. El Salvador also sits about 1,500 kilometers from the Equator. Their year is split into a dry season, which runs from November through April, and a rainy season from May to October. In El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador, dry season typically consists of an average of 23 sunny days per month, while rainy season consists of only five sunny days on average. The Sierra Madre mountain range that runs through the northern part of the country does, however, provide solar opportunities.

From a trade perspective, El Salvador is part of numerous trade agreements, organizations, and treaties. They joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, the U.S.-Central America Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) was applied in 2006, and the Central American Common Market (CACM) with Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua was revived in the early 1990s after previously collapsing in the 1960s. In the CACM, these countries have agreed upon maximum tariffs and beneficial tariff rates, mostly for industrial goods.[4] In addition to these, El Salvador has signed Free Trade Agreements with: the Dominican Republic, Chile, Panama, Mexico, Taiwan, Colombia, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, Cuba, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

El Salvador runs in a trade deficit – in 2019, their trade deficit was slightly above $6 billion. Their top importing partners were the United States, China, Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras, while their top exporting partner was far and away the United States, followed by their regional neighbors in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.[5]

Lastly, GDP (2020) was $28.74 billion (USD), with a population of around 6 million, their GDP per capita is approximately $3,800 (USD). Extreme poverty, as measured as $1.90 a day, declined from 13% in 1995 to 1.5% in 2019.[6] Interestingly enough, in 2001, El Salvador switched their official currency from the Salvadoran colon to the U.S. Dollar. Despite this, World Bank ranks El Salvador 91^st in terms of ease of doing business. And yes, in 2021, El Salvador was the first country to adopt Bitcoin as official tender, however for the purposes of our study, we will not be discussing further implications or usages until there are further use cases.

The final, and perhaps, most important piece of our Salvadoran case study, is the country’s inherent climate risk and pending catastrophe. According to the World Bank’s Climate Change Knowledge Portal, El Salvador is one of the most affected countries in the world by weather-related events and hazards, and the most at-risk in Central America. Due to these weather-related events and hazards, they incur annual losses equivalent to 2.5% of GDP. They also rank second highest in risk of exposure to two or more hazards, and are the highest in total population at a high risk of mortality.[7]

1. ENERGY SECTOR BACKGROUND

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Seven is to “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”[8] In this regard, El Salvador has done a fantastic job – officially reporting 100% access to electricity in 2020.[9] They have also done a great job providing access to clean cooking fuels, with continuous growth year over year, reporting 92% total access in 2020. However, there is a rural and urban split, as they reported 80.9% and 96.7%, respectively.[10]

On the topic of electricity, World Bank last collected El Salvador’s transmission loss in 2011 at 11%, which has shown a steady decrease over the past several decades,[11] indicating greater infrastructure and procedural efficiency.

ETESAL, which is the official transmission owner in El Salvador and thus federal, owns and maintains the transmission system; the UT, a private corporation, operates the system and national electricity market; SIGET, a Salvadoran superintendent, regulates the power sector; the National Energy Council (CNE) creates the national policy; and then there are local and regional electricity suppliers and traders. The market is made up of purchase power agreements (PPA) awarded in competitive auctions supervised by the regulator and the spot market – which operates on the basis of production cost.[12] The power generation market is 47% state owned, 30% multinationals, and 23% local operators, while the distribution market share 97% multinationals and 3% local distributors.[13] This is just within El Salvador, as there are also key players in the regional energy market that include a regulator, operator and administrator, Regional Energy Market Ministries, Grid Enterprise Owners, and regional suppliers and traders.

El Salvador’s grid is interconnected with six regional neighbors – Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua – through the Central American Electrical Interconnection System (SIEPAC).[14] Because of this, there has been a decrease in domestic electricity generation, mainly due to growing electricity imports, most of which comes from Guatemala and Honduras, their immediate neighbors to the west and north.

El Salvador’s energy supply primarily comes from fossil fuels, such as oil, gasoline, diesel, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), kerosene, and bunker fuel. Natural gas does not play a role in El Salvador’s energy supply. Prioritizing renewables is of utmost priority to El Salvador from an energy security basis, as they do not have any domestic oil, gas or coal supply and are dependent on imported fossil fuels from their partners.[15]

As of 2019, total installed capacity reached 2.2 gigawatts (GW) (including off-grid generation), with an average growth rate of around 6%. Net electricity supply, including imports, totaled approximately 6,600 gigawatt hours (GWh). To be expected, fossil fuels made up the greatest share at 32.5%, followed by net imports at 21.8%, hydropower at 21.7%, geothermal at 20.7%, and other renewable energy sources at 3.3%.[16]

To their credit, El Salvador has worked to pass various national energy policies that are meant to diversify their energy portfolio, expand extended electricity access (as they are already at 100% access, technically), and strengthen the regional energy integration throughout Central America. It has been noted that El Salvador’s national policies have begun to fall in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. El Salvador’s National Energy Council (CNE) develops their energy strategy, and has focused on energy efficiency and the promotion of renewable energy sources.[17]

The General Electricity Law of 1996 was passed in El Salvador and opened up the energy market and power sector to new private investors and participants, specifically in renewable energy development, and led to the active government promotion of renewable energy sources.[18] 

In 2007, El Salvador passed Decree 462 which provides investors and companies tax breaks and incentives if they finance and develop renewable energy projects. Decree 642 also provides 10 years of import tax exemptions for any capital purchases that may be made in support of the renewable project.[19]

Additionally, El Salvador crafted the National Energy Policy 2010-2024 to implement renewable energy solutions. Since 2013, no new fossil fuel-based power generators have been added. The policy includes four key objectives: Guaranteed quality, continuous and affordable energy access; Improved role of the Government in the development of the energy sector by strengthening the institutional framework; Decreased fossil fuel dependency; Minimized environmental and social impacts on climate change by the energy projects. In addition, the policy provided several initiatives that would allow for El Salvador to diversify their energy portfolio: Develop renewable energy projects for electricity generation including Hydro plants; Develop a Master Plan for renewable energy deployment; Establish regulations for new generation; Create regulations for biofuel production; Promote development of Concentrated Solar Thermoelectric Power.[20]

By 2019, renewables reached approximately 64% of the country’s total installed capacity of 2.2 gigawatts (GW). And since 2015, solar photovoltaic (PV) had grown by nearly a factor of ten.[21]

The renewable energy split in El Salvador primarily consists of four sources: biomass, solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal. El Salvador has three biomass plants which produce about 109.5 MW of electricity. Central El Salvador receives high levels of solar radiation that are conducive to solar generation. Most of the country’s installed solar panels are in government buildings, schools, manufacturing plants, and universities. The capacity of the largest PV system is 99 MW, with a total electricity generation of 489.6 MW. There are four hydroelectric dams located in El Salvador, all along the aforementioned Rio Lempa. These plants are operated by the Río Lempa Hydroelectricity Board (CEL). There are 20 installed power plants along the river which generated a combined 552 MW. Unfortunately, hydroelectric energy is often only obtainable during the rainy season. Despite its small stature, El Salvador has the highest level of geothermal production across all of Central America. The country has an installed capacity of 204.4 MW across two installations. Total geothermal potential in El Salvador is approximately 791 MW, which would increase potential generation capacity by nearly 26%.[22]

1. LITERATURE REVIEW AND ANALYSIS

Under the General Electricity Law of 1996, auctions were made the preferred method to purchase power in El Salvador, specifically pertaining to geothermal and hydroelectric power sources. This was one way in which El Salvador began to incentivize investment in, and development of, renewable energy sources. In the decades which followed, Salvadoran leadership has created numerous frameworks and mechanisms to continue this promotion.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) recently partnered with El Salvador to conduct a Renewable Readiness Report (RRA), which took a holistic view of the country’s energy sector, analyzed the current state of renewables and the National Energy Policy 2010 – 2024, and created an actionable structure of policy options to sustainably move forward. Due to this work, IRENA and El Salvador signed a partnership agreement which will see the country follow the outlined actions and implementing the recommendations provided. El Salvador will also work under IRENA’s Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF).[23] It is a major step for El Salvador as they craft their next 30 years of renewable energy policy for the new National Energy Policy 2020 – 2050.

Within IRENA’s RRA, the co-authors provide a gambit of mechanisms that El Salvador has in place to promote investment and development of renewable energy and the associated technology. These are bucketed into five categories: fiscal incentives, access to electricity transmission grids, regulatory instruments, financial instruments, and others.[24]

The fiscal incentives that are provided mostly rely on tax exemptions including a value added tax (VAT), income tax, and import tax. They also provide exemptions on the sale certificates of reduced emissions (CERs). This CERs exemption is based on the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism which promotes the implementation of emissions-limiting, or emissions-reduction projects.[25] The VAT tax (13%) exemption provides relief on pre-investment renewable energy work and additional construction investments. El Salvador provides a five-year income tax exemption for renewable projects that are larger that 10 megawatts (MW), and 10 years of exemptions for projects under that 10 MW threshold. Similarly, the 5% import tax is exempt on any capital or services required.[26]

There are two additional mechanisms that El Salvador could employ to increase investment: accelerated depreciation of capital and an additional renewable energy Production Tax Credit. Both of these mechanisms are used in the United States, which could serve as a guidepost. Accelerated depreciation allows for investors to rapidly reduce the high capital costs associated with renewable projects, and therefore attracts foreign direct investment.[27] Similarly, a production tax credit would be another layer of incentives that provides a certain credit amount – in the United States it is 1.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) – for electricity generated via renewable energy sources, over a set number of years.[28]

El Salvador also guarantees access to electricity transmission grids to renewable energy investors. This is done via two mechanisms: grid access and priority dispatch. Grid access is guaranteed for renewable energy generators due to the strength of ETESAL, the government run transmission system operator, and their regional interconnectivity. Priority dispatch is a unique mechanism which prioritizes energy from renewable generators over power generated from their dirty alternatives. El Salvador included this as a reform to the General Electricity Law of 1996 which prioritized solar, wind, and biomass sources. The benefit gained by these providers is that marginal costs are, in essence, null.[29] Surprisingly, El Salvador does not offer priority dispatch to geothermal or hydroelectric sources, which are two of the more robust technologies and sources in the renewable energy mix.

On the topic of geothermal and hydroelectric energy, as previously discussed, El Salvador utilizes technology-specific (quotas will be reallocated if the target is not met), renewable energy auctions to purchase capacity in these areas. This is one of the regulatory instruments provided alongside distributed generation. These auctions provide 20-year PPA which are paid out in USD and is indexed to U.S. inflation. The bidding process is open and publicly disclosed, with a ceiling price established upon opening. A study was conducted to look at an auction in 2014, and then another auction was conducted in 2016 to compare results. In 2014, 94 MW was installed, reaching 94% of the target, with the contracted solar price falling from $101.90 – $123.41 per megawatt-hour (MWh). In 2016, 169.5 MW were installed, 99.7% of the target volume, and the contracted solar price fell to $49.55 – $67.25 and included wind energy prices of $98.78 per MWh.[30] Additional auction studies should be conducted and should include implementing a reverse auction to lower MWh prices even further. Regarding distributed generation, SIGET regulates net metering to allow for eligible producers of renewable energy to provide surplus production into the local distribution grids.[31] Distributed generation provides greater reliability than a centralized system, increases system efficiency, lowers overall electrical losses, and reduces electrical costs.

Financial instrument mechanisms provided include a dedicated fund and an eligibility fund. Each of these are public funds which provide financing support for renewable projects. First, the dedicated fund is provided by FINET, El Salvador’s National Investment Fund, for projects that are focused on rural areas within the county, specifically for energy generation or infrastructure improvements. The eligibility fund is provided by El Salvador’s National Development Bank, BANDESAL, and provides financing for general renewable projects, not anything as specific as the dedicated fund.[32] One area for improvement not previously mentioned would be BANDESAL providing investors with loan guarantees. Ensuring repayments of principal and interest on construction loans provides an added level of risk mitigation for investors, thus increasing the likelihood of financing.

The last incentive provided falls under the others category, but could also be identified as humanitarian. The Salvadoran government requires all renewable energy projects to provide a percentage of revenue generated directly to local communities, or to financing projects that will benefit local communities.[33]

• POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

When recommending policy, it is beneficial to look at what has been done well and what needs improvement. To their credit, El Salvador has created a favorable environment for renewable energy investment, and have taken control of their risky climate future. With that being said, there are additional areas for improvement which the Salvadoran government could employ that would speed up investment and development and position El Salvador as a renewable energy leader in Central America, Latin America, and the world.

First, El Salvador does not offer investors with any feed-in tariffs. Providing a feed-in tariff program would ensure that customers and investors who own any eligible renewable electricity generation facility, such as a roof-top solar PV system, receive a guaranteed price for all of their generated electricity provided to the grid. For this to work to the greatest possible extent, the rate at which the tariff is set would need to be greater than the retail cost of electricity.[34]

However, feed-in tariffs also come with potential drawbacks: setting rates too favorably can result in more investments than needed. In this case, costs to the government and other utility customers are much greater.[35] To mitigate this risk, El Salvador could work with their trade partners in the CACM to create a regional feed-in tariff program. With a regional structure, surplus electricity could be spread throughout the region, thus limiting costs and providing additional energy. This would create a much larger base, and would therefore allow for more investment before reaching that investment tipping point.

In their RRA, IRENA laid out 14 actions that El Salvador should take–actions that El Salvador will now partake in as a result of their signed partnership – to continue down their path of success with renewables. I will not focus on all 14, but an overarching theme that is present throughout each of these actions: increase institutional capacity by increasing the regulatory frameworks, structures, and procedures in place. This is seen in numerous actions provided, such as:

• Action #5: “Improve geothermal energy policy and regulatory framework,”
• Action #12: “Streamline administrative procedures and facilitate their enforcement,”
• Action #14: “Create capacity for local private financing of renewable energy projects.”[36]

Institutional capacity is the straw which stirs the drink. El Salvador has the national, political will to conduct renewable projects, as evidenced by the numerous incentives provided, the dire climate risks in the country, and their regional partnerships. While the institutional capacity is still catching up, to say they don’t have any capacity would be false. They have a national regulator, SIGET, that does a good job. However, the RRA continually points out how many processes there are and how they are unfamiliar to outsiders. As Action #14 points out in-depth, “an additional uncertainty for financial agencies…is the relative lack of experience such agencies have in financing projects.”[37] By building up these various capacities, such as financing and geothermal, El Salvador can reach their potential. IRENA recommends, under Action #12, creating a “one-stop shop” for all administrative processes which would handle, resolve, and provide licenses and permits for renewable projects.[38] This would benefit the government, as it would reduce their strain and associated costs; it would benefit investors and developers, as it would reduce the time to get a permit; and it would benefit the public, as they would get their energy sooner and cheaper.

Finally, I wanted to provide a humanitarian policy recommendation. The United Nations SDG Goal 5 pertains to gender equity. In El Salvador, only 47% of women participate in the workforce, and the energy sector is, as expected, male-dominated. In addition, El Salvador is rated third-highest in the world for violent crimes against women. The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Engendering Utilities program is tasked with strengthening the energy and energy-adjacent sectors by increasing economic opportunities for women and improving gender equality in the workplace. DELSUR, one of 18 energy distributors in El Salvador which currently services approximately 25% of the country, is working with USAID through the Engendering Utilities program to increase opportunities for women within the company and enhance utility operations. Currently, around 20% of their workforce, 50% of the executive management team, 34% of middle management, and 15% of the company’s engineers are women.[39] DELSUR has created and participates in many programs to increase their gender balance and support of local communities. DELSUR, and efforts like this within El Salvador, should be championed by national leaders and should continue to work with USAID funding.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“Access to Clean Fuels and Technologies for Cooking (% of Population) – El Salvador,” The World Bank. Accessed July 9^th, 2022. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.CFT.ACCS.ZS?locations=SV

“Access to Electricity (% of Population) – El Salvador,” The World Bank. Accessed July 9^th, 2022. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS?locations=SV

Alves, Bruna. “Largest Countries in Central America, by Total Area,” Statista. June 21, 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/992382/largest-countries-area-central-america/

Barrera, Fabian. “Central American Electrical Interconnection System (SIEPAC),” International Renewable Energy Agency. Accessed July 17^th, 2022. https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/event-documents/2-3_IRENA_Barrera.pdf

Climate Change Knowledge Portal. “El Salvador – Climate Change Overview,” The World Bank. Accessed July 10^th, 2022. https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/el-salvador

Department of Economic and Social Affairs. “The 17 Goals,” United Nations. Accessed July 14^th, 2022. https://sdgs.un.org/goals.

“Depreciation of Solar Energy Property in MACRS,” Solar Energy Industries Association. Accessed July 22^nd, 2022. https://www.seia.org/initiatives/depreciation-solar-energy-property-macrs

“El Salvador Geography,” Country Reports. Accessed July 7^th, 2022. https://www.countryreports.org/country/ElSalvador/geography.htm

“Electric Power Transmission and Distribution Losses (% of Output) – El Salvador,” The World Bank. Accessed July 9^th, 2022. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?locations=SV

“GDP (Current US$) – El Salvador,” The World Bank. Accessed July 9^th, 2022. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=SV

Global Volcanism Program. “El Salvador Volcanoes,” Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History. Accessed July 7^th, 2022. https://volcano.si.edu/volcanolist_countries.cfm?country=El%20Salvador

Independent Statistics and Analysis. “Feed-in Tariff: A Policy Tool Encouraging Deployment of Renewable Electricity Technologies,” U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). May 30^th, 2013. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=11471

International Energy Agency (IEA). “National Energy Policy 2010 – 2024,” IEA/IRENA Renewables Policies Database. November 29^th, 2016. https://www.iea.org/policies/6137-national-energy-policy-2010-2024

IRENA. “El Salvador Eyes Major Renewables Push Under New Partnership with IRENA,” International Renewable Energy Agency. January 16^th, 2022. https://www.irena.org/newsroom/pressreleases/2022/Jan/El-Salvador-Eyes-Major-Renewables-Push-Under-New-Partnership-with-IRENA

IRENA. “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” International Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi (2020). ISBN: 978-92-9260-293-2. https://irena.org/publications/2020/Dec/Renewables-Readiness-Assessment-El-Salvador

Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP). “Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit Information,” United States Environmental Protection Agency. July 8^th, 2022. https://www.epa.gov/lmop/renewable-electricity-production-tax-credit-information#:~:text=The%20renewable%20electricity%20production%20tax,by%20qualified%20renewable%20energy%20resources

Molina, Javier, Nadia Scharen-Guivel, and Eric Hyman. “Analysis of Renewable Energy Auctions in El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru,” US Agency for International Development (USAID) CEADAIR Activity. June 8^th, 2018. https://www.asiacleanenergyforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Mikell-O’Mealy-Analysis-of-Renewable-Energy-Auctions-in-El-Salvador-Mexico-and-Peru.pdf

Rivera, Marie Irene. “El Salvador – Energy,” Privacy Shield Framework. Accessed July 16^th, 2022. https://www.privacyshield.gov/article?id=El-Salvador-Energy.

“SIGET Statistical Yearbook,” El Salvador National Energy Council (CNE). Accessed July 13^th, 2022. https://estadisticas.cne.gob.sv/estadisticas-energeticas/anuario-estadistico-siget/

Trade Agreements Negotiations and Compliance Program. “El Salvador – Country Commercial Guide,” International Trade Administration. November 5^th, 2021. https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/el-salvador-trade-agreements

United Nations Climate Change. “The Clean Development Mechanism,” United Nations. Accessed July 22^nd, 2022. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-kyoto-protocol/mechanisms-under-the-kyoto-protocol/the-clean-development-mechanism

Valenta, Amanda, Corinne Hart, and Jessica Menon. “Engendering Utilities Partner Profile: DELSUR, El Salvador,” U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Accessed July 19^th, 2022. https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/Engendering-Utilities_DELSUR_El-Salvador.pdf

World Integrated Trade Solution. “El Salvador Trade Balance, Exports and Imports by Country 2018,” The World Bank. Accessed July 13^th, 2022. https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/SLV/Year/2018/TradeFlow/EXPIMP/Partner/by-country#:~:text=El%20Salvador%20trade%20balance%2C%20exports%20and%20imports%20by%20country&text=In%202018%2C%20El%20Salvador%20major,%2C%20Guatemala%2C%20Mexico%20and%20Honduras

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[1] Alves, “Largest Countries in Central America, by Total Area.”

[2] Global Volcanism Program, “El Salvador Volcanoes.”

[3] “El Salvador Geography,” Country Reports.

[4] Trade Agreements Negotiations and Compliance Program, “El Salvador – Country Commercial Guide.”

[5] World Integrated Trade Solution. “El Salvador Trade Balance, Exports and Imports by Country 2018.”

[6] “GDP (Current US$) – El Salvador,” The World Bank.

[7] Climate Change Knowledge Portal, “El Salvador – Climate Change Overview.”

[8] Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “The 17 Goals.”

[9] “Access to Electricity (% of Population) – El Salvador,” The World Bank.

[10] “Access to Clean Fuels and Technologies for Cooking (% of Population) – El Salvador,” The World Bank.

[11] “Electric Power Transmission and Distribution Losses (% of Output) – El Salvador,” The World Bank.

[12] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 24-25.

[13] Rivera, “El Salvador – Energy.”

[14] Barrera, “Central American Electrical Interconnection System (SIEPAC),” 2.

[15] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 12-19.

[16] “SIGET Statistical Yearbook,” El Salvador National Energy Council (CNE).

[17] Rivera, “El Salvador – Energy.”

[18] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 2.

[19] Rivera, “El Salvador – Energy.”

[20] International Energy Agency (IEA), “National Energy Policy 2010 – 2024.”

[21] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 2.

[22] Trade Agreements Negotiations and Compliance Program, “El Salvador – Country Commercial Guide.”

[23] IRENA, “El Salvador Eyes Major Renewables Push Under New Partnership with IRENA.”

[24] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 40.

[25] United Nations Climate Change, “The Clean Development Mechanism.”

[26] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 40.

[27] “Depreciation of Solar Energy Property in MACRS,” Solar Energy Industries Association.

[28] Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), “Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit Information.”

[29] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 40.

[30] Molina et al, “Analysis of Renewable Energy Auctions in El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru,” 5-7.

[31] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 40.

[32] Ibid

[33] Ibid

[34] Independent Statistics and Analysis, “Feed-in Tariff: A Policy Tool Encouraging Deployment of Renewable Electricity Technologies.”

[35] Ibid

[36] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 50-57.

[37] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 57.

[38] IRENA, “IRENA Renewable Readiness Assessment: El Salvador,” 56-57.

[39] Valenta, “Engendering Utilities Partner Profile: DELSUR, El Salvador,” 2.

Image: IRENA