Transmission reinforcements in the Central American regional power system

The Central American regional power system (SER) connects the member countries of the regional electricity market (MER): Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. The SER was a result of a long-term regional effort, and was initially conceived to transfer 300 MW between countries. However, the current transfer limits between countries range from 70 MW to 300 MW. Regional entities, like CRIE (Regional Commission of Electrical Interconnection), EOR (Regional System Operator), and CDMER (Board of Directors of the Regional Market) are working on coordinating the national transmission expansion plans with regional transmission planning efforts. This paper presents a process to recommend transmission reinforcements based on a recent study to achieve 300 MW transfer capacity between any pair of MER member countries. This paper also provides a methodology for technical analysis and coordination among the regional and national entities that is tailored to the characteristics of their transmission systems.