El Salvador makes a major push towards renewable energy
El Salvador has signed a framework agreement with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) this agreement aims to drive economic development using renewable energy sources, especially those indigenous to the country such as taking advantage of the country’s geothermal energy produced by the 170 volcanos El Salvador has, as well as hydropower, biomass, solar, and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The Government wants to implement a long-term energy plan from 2020 to 2050, this energy plan aims to reduce the cost of electricity by investing in its own energy solutions and stop importing fossil fuel energy from abroad.
“El Salvador is a key partner in the implementation of IRENA’s regional programs in Central America and an active player in the Global Geothermal Alliance. This cooperation agreement will support our national decarbonization plans and boost the financing of renewable energy projects. It will contribute to the development of geothermal energy in El Salvador,” said Minister Hill.
El Salvador wants to move away from the old dirty fossil fuel and step into the modern era with renewable energy solutions, this is done not only to become energy-dependent and to reduce the electricity tariffs but also because the people of El Salvador have demanded it for so long, therefore solar PV, wind and as well as other renewable energy sources have boomed in El Salvador in recent years.
IRENA has made it clear that it wants to work closely with El Salvador in identifying opportunities for national projects that are suitable for financing, thanks to IRENA’S own Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) Platform, which according to IRENA is “an inclusive, multi-stakeholder climate finance solution managed by the International Renewable Energy Agency to advance the energy transition across the Agency’s 166-strong membership” some of the projects will come from recommendations made by IRENA’s Renewables Readiness Assessment (RRA) which is a proprietary tool used for assessing a country’s needs for the development and deployment of renewable energy solutions, some other recommendations may also come from the NDC, or Nationally Determined Contribution, which is a national climate plan required by each country that signed the Paris agreement.
Moving forward El Salvador is expected to focus on geothermal energy in the coming months and years since President Nayib Bukele has said it will be used to mine cryptocurrency as well as to power up Bitcoin City, which is a massive infrastructure project that will attract the digital currency sector as well as drive investment and development to El Salvador.
One of the biggest criticisms for mining bitcoin is that it is not environmentally friendly, however, geothermal energy is a clean and renewable energy source, therefore, mining cryptocurrency in El Salvador will become an environmentally friendly affair, and it will become very attractive to the cryptocurrency mining companies, becoming just one example of how renewable energy solutions can drive development.
One of the biggest criticisms for mining bitcoin is that it is not environmentally friendly, however, geothermal energy is a clean and renewable energy source, therefore, mining cryptocurrency in El Salvador will become an environmentally friendly affair, and it will become very attractive to the cryptocurrency mining companies, becoming just one example of how renewable energy solutions can drive development.