Loan for Guatemalan renewables, energy storage minigrids

The IDB has approved a $250 million loan to increase electricity coverage in rural Guatemala. A planned program will include the development of renewables-plus-storage minigrids.

The 25-year loan, which includes a five-and-a-half-year grace period when repayments can be paused, has a variable interest rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate issued daily by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The Rural Electrification Access Program approved by the IDB board, under the organization’s Multiple Works Program Loan facility, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for the planning, design, and management of rural electrification projects as well as widening electricity access.

The IDB said around 70,000 households would benefit, including indigenous populations who will receive awareness-raising activity about productive uses of electricity and training in the maintenance of isolated electricity systems.

Guatemala raised its national electrification rate from 52% to 90% between 1996 and 2023 but still sits below the 98% regional average. With electricity coverage only 82% in rural areas, nearly 380,000 households rely on candles, kerosene lamps, diesel generators, or batteries to meet their energy needs.

The IDB program will strengthen and expand medium- and low-voltage electricity distribution networks in rural areas and will fund minigrids and individual solar-plus-storage systems.

The loan will also strengthen state-owned electric utility the National Electrification Institute through the development of georeferenced planning systems, cost-efficient modeling, awareness-raising, technical training, and community empowerment programs.

From pv magazine LatAm.