IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i11p4328-d1155958.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Central American Power System: Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities for a Green Transition

Author

Listed:
  • Gustavo Adolfo Gómez-Ramírez

    (Escuela de Ingeniería Electromecánica, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Cartago 159-7050, Costa Rica)

  • Carlos Meza

    (Department of Electrical, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, 06366 Köthen, Germany)

  • Gonzalo Mora-Jiménez

    (Centro Nacional de Control de Energía, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, San José 10032-1000, Costa Rica)

  • José Rodrigo Rojas Morales

    (Sede Regional Chorotega, Campus Liberia, Universidad Nacional, Liberia 50101, Costa Rica)

  • Luis García-Santander

    (Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4030000, Chile)

Abstract

Over the past few decades, Central American countries have seen a steady increase in their energy needs. Luckily, the region has abundant renewable energy resources and, as a result, has been busy constructing wind and photovoltaic power facilities. However, while these renewable sources are promising, they come with some risks—mainly, their variable power generation can pose a challenge to the interconnected regional system. This paper explores the current state of the Central American power system and the obstacles it faces as it strives to transition to a more environmentally-friendly energy system. To do so, the authors employed power flow analysis and transient stability studies, which were conducted using ETAP (Electrical Transient Analyzer Program) to model and simulate the power system. Their study revealed that the Central American power system is at risk of instability, and they suggest that integrating ancillary services and storage solutions could strengthen its resilience. Additionally, the authors advocate for the development of microgrids, energy management, and sustainable decarbonization plans. Lastly, the authors emphasize the importance of short-, medium-, and long-term power planning to make better decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gustavo Adolfo Gómez-Ramírez & Carlos Meza & Gonzalo Mora-Jiménez & José Rodrigo Rojas Morales & Luis García-Santander, 2023. "The Central American Power System: Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities for a Green Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:11:p:4328-:d:1155958
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/11/4328/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/11/4328/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tino Aboumahboub & Robert J. Brecha & Himalaya Bir Shrestha & Ursula Fuentes & Andreas Geiges & William Hare & Michiel Schaeffer & Lara Welder & Matthew J. Gidden, 2020. "Decarbonization of Australia’s Energy System: Integrated Modeling of the Transformation of Electricity, Transportation, and Industrial Sectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-39, July.
    2. Chu Donatus Iweh & Samuel Gyamfi & Emmanuel Tanyi & Eric Effah-Donyina, 2021. "Distributed Generation and Renewable Energy Integration into the Grid: Prerequisites, Push Factors, Practical Options, Issues and Merits," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-34, August.
    3. Abdul Hasib Siddique & Mehedi Hasan & Sharnali Islam & Khalid Rashid, 2021. "Prospective Smart Distribution Substation in Bangladesh: Modeling and Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, September.
    4. Carvajal, S.X. & Serrano, J. & Arango, S., 2013. "Colombian ancillary services and international connections: Current weaknesses and policy challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 770-778.
    5. Arcadio Perilla & Stelios Papadakis & Jose Luis Rueda Torres & Mart van der Meijden & Peter Palensky & Francisco Gonzalez-Longatt, 2020. "Transient Stability Performance of Power Systems with High Share of Wind Generators Equipped with Power-Angle Modulation Controllers or Fast Local Voltage Controllers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-17, August.
    6. Winfield, Mark & Shokrzadeh, Shahab & Jones, Adam, 2018. "Energy policy regime change and advanced energy storage: A comparative analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 572-583.
    7. Danny Ochoa & Sergio Martinez, 2021. "Analytical Approach to Understanding the Effects of Implementing Fast-Frequency Response by Wind Turbines on the Short-Term Operation of Power Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-22, June.
    8. Pantelis A. Dratsas & Georgios N. Psarros & Stavros A. Papathanassiou, 2021. "Battery Energy Storage Contribution to System Adequacy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-22, August.
    9. Martha N. Acosta & Daniel Pettersen & Francisco Gonzalez-Longatt & Jaime Peredo Argos & Manuel A. Andrade, 2020. "Optimal Frequency Support of Variable-Speed Hydropower Plants at Telemark and Vestfold, Norway: Future Scenarios of Nordic Power System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-25, July.
    10. Zhenyu Zhao & Huijia Yang, 2020. "Regional Security Assessment of Integrated Energy Systems with Renewables in China: A Grid-Connected Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-18, December.
    11. SeokJu Kang & Jaewoo Kim & Jung-Wook Park & Seung-Mook Baek, 2019. "Reactive Power Management Based on Voltage Sensitivity Analysis of Distribution System with High Penetration of Renewable Energies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-20, April.
    12. Barroco, Jose, 2021. "Designing financeable ancillary services revenue contracts in developing economies: Learnings from the Philippines," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    13. Ramteen Sioshansi & Paul Denholm & Thomas Jenkin, 2012. "Market and Policy Barriers to Deployment of Energy Storage," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    14. Hyung-Seung Kim & Junho Hong & In-Sun Choi, 2021. "Implementation of Distributed Autonomous Control Based Battery Energy Storage System for Frequency Regulation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, May.
    15. Yujia Huo & Simone Barcellona & Luigi Piegari & Giambattista Gruosso, 2020. "Reactive Power Injection to Mitigate Frequency Transients Using Grid Connected PV Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-24, April.
    16. Dai Orihara & Hiroshi Kikusato & Jun Hashimoto & Kenji Otani & Takahiro Takamatsu & Takashi Oozeki & Hisao Taoka & Takahiro Matsuura & Satoshi Miyazaki & Hiromu Hamada & Kenjiro Mori, 2021. "Contribution of Voltage Support Function to Virtual Inertia Control Performance of Inverter-Based Resource in Frequency Stability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-16, July.
    17. Mischa Ahrens & Fabian Kern & Hartmut Schmeck, 2021. "Strategies for an Adaptive Control System to Improve Power Grid Resilience with Smart Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-29, July.
    18. Huangjie Gong & Dan M. Ionel, 2021. "Improving the Power Outage Resilience of Buildings with Solar PV through the Use of Battery Systems and EV Energy Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-16, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Martin, Nigel & Rice, John, 2021. "Power outages, climate events and renewable energy: Reviewing energy storage policy and regulatory options for Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Martha N. Acosta & Francisco Gonzalez-Longatt & Danijel Topić & Manuel A. Andrade, 2021. "Optimal Microgrid–Interactive Reactive Power Management for Day–Ahead Operation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Dahiana López García & José David Beltrán Gallego & Sandra Ximena Carvajal Quintero, 2023. "Proposing Dynamic Pricing as an Alternative to Improve Technical and Economic Conditions in Rural Electrification: A Case Study from Colombia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-24, May.
    4. Jin-Li Hu, 2022. "Energy Resilience in Presence of Natural and Social Uncertainties," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-3, September.
    5. Psarros, Georgios N. & Papathanassiou, Stavros A., 2023. "Generation scheduling in island systems with variable renewable energy sources: A literature review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1105-1124.
    6. Diego Larrahondo & Ricardo Moreno & Harold R. Chamorro & Francisco Gonzalez-Longatt, 2021. "Comparative Performance of Multi-Period ACOPF and Multi-Period DCOPF under High Integration of Wind Power," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    7. Kost, Christoph & Flath, Christoph M. & Möst, Dominik, 2013. "Concentrating solar power plant investment and operation decisions under different price and support mechanisms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 238-248.
    8. Yousef Alharbi & Ahmed Darwish & Xiandong Ma, 2023. "A Comprehensive Review of Distributed MPPT for Grid-Tied PV Systems at the Sub-Module Level," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-23, July.
    9. Huijia Yang & Weiguang Fan & Guangyu Qin & Zhenyu Zhao, 2021. "A Fuzzy-ANP Approach for Comprehensive Benefit Evaluation of Grid-Side Commercial Storage Project," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-17, February.
    10. Katrin Schmitz & Bjarne Steffen & Christoph Weber, 2013. "Incentive or impediment? The impact of capacity mechanisms on storage plants," RSCAS Working Papers 2013/46, European University Institute.
    11. Loisel, Rodica & Simon, Corentin, 2021. "Market strategies for large-scale energy storage: Vertical integration versus stand-alone player," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    12. Boffino, Luigi & Conejo, Antonio J. & Sioshansi, Ramteen & Oggioni, Giorgia, 2019. "A two-stage stochastic optimization planning framework to decarbonize deeply electric power systems," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Pablo Fernández-Bustamante & Oscar Barambones & Isidro Calvo & Cristian Napole & Mohamed Derbeli, 2021. "Provision of Frequency Response from Wind Farms: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-24, October.
    14. Retna Kumar, Aravind & Shrimali, Gireesh, 2021. "Role of policy in the development of business models for battery storage deployment: Hawaii case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    15. Matheus Schramm Dall’Asta & Telles Brunelli Lazzarin, 2023. "Small-Signal Modeling and Stability Analysis of a Grid-Following Inverter with Inertia Emulation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-28, August.
    16. Evan S. Jones & Rosemary E. Alden & Huangjie Gong & Dan M. Ionel, 2023. "Co-Simulation of Electric Power Distribution Systems and Buildings including Ultra-Fast HVAC Models and Optimal DER Control," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-20, June.
    17. Rob Shipman & Rebecca Roberts & Julie Waldron & Chris Rimmer & Lucelia Rodrigues & Mark Gillott, 2021. "Online Machine Learning of Available Capacity for Vehicle-to-Grid Services during the Coronavirus Pandemic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, November.
    18. Kumar, T. Bharath & Singh, Anoop, 2021. "Ancillary services in the Indian power sector – A look at recent developments and prospects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    19. Resch, Matthias & Bühler, Jochen & Klausen, Mira & Sumper, Andreas, 2017. "Impact of operation strategies of large scale battery systems on distribution grid planning in Germany," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1042-1063.
    20. Masilu Marupi & Munira Batool & Morteza Alizadeh & Noor Zanib, 2023. "Transient Stability Improvement of Large-Scale Photovoltaic Grid Using a Flywheel as a Synchronous Machine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-18, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:11:p:4328-:d:1155958. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.