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Nicaragua Electric Power and Energy
Nicaraguan electric power capacity expanded rapidly
from 1950
to 1970, increasing about sixfold during that period. The
system
did not receive much attention throughout the Sandinista
era,
however, and power lines and transformers were frequently
a focus
of Contra attacks. The major centers of population and
industry
in the Pacific lowlands are served by an integrated power
system.
As late as 1993, the Caribbean region remained without an
interconnected power grid. In the last nationwide survey
in 1975,
only 41 percent of the total number of dwellings and just
7
percent in rural areas had electricity.
In the early 1990s, Nicaragua obtained half of its 423-
megawatt electric generating capacity from thermal
generating
plants. One geothermal electric plant operates on the
slopes of
the Momotobo volcano. A Soviet-financed hydroelectric
plant was
completed at Asturias in 1989, and in 1993 a large
400-megawatt
hydroelectric plant was under construction at Copalar on
the Río
Grande.
Roughly half of Nicaragua's energy needs are satisfied
by
imported petroleum. The country's only refinery, located
in
Managua, is operated by Esso (Standard Oil) and has a
capacity of
16,000 barrels per day. From 1979 to 1982, most of
Nicaragua's
oil came from Mexico and Venezuela through terms of the
San José Accord (see Glossary),
under which Mexico and Venezuela
agreed to
supply Nicaragua with oil. Both countries stopped
supplies,
however, when Nicaragua became delinquent on payments. The
Sandinista government then turned to Cuba, Eastern Europe,
and
the Soviet Union for oil. The turmoil in Eastern Europe
and the
Soviet Union in 1989 resulted in deliveries dropping far
short of
demand. Electric power generation plummeted to 20 percent
of
capacity, and blackouts of up to ten hours a day were
common. The
new government of President Chamorro negotiated
Nicaragua's
outstanding debts with Mexico and Venezuela, and in 1991
these
countries began delivering oil again.
Data as of December 1993
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