Solar power benefits Panama during heatwave

The prolonged dry season that Panama is experiencing with the El Niño phenomenon, and the arrival of the summer season, usually triggers electricity consumption in homes, companies, and businesses due to the use of air conditioners.

On  Sunday, February 18, Panama registered an average maximum temperature of between 29 and 35 degrees Celsius with a thermal sensation of 42 degrees according to the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology of Panama report.

In real-time, the National Dispatch Center (CND) details that at 3:45 pm most of the energy generation was being produced through thermal plants with a participation of 44.32% in a generation, followed by solar and with 21.03%, surpassing water generation which stood at 17.92% of the total energy generated. And wind energy reached 16.73% this Sunday afternoon.

The monthly report of the CND, an organization attached to the Electric Transmission Company (Etesa), details that in January more than one million Megawatt hours (MWh) were generated, of which 35.83% were invested in thermal plants, mainly gas plants. , 40.08% corresponded to hydroelectric plants, 13.41% to wind plants, 10.05% to solar plants, 0.002% to self-generation, and 0.62% to imported energy from Central America.

The day with the highest demand for energy coverage in the system was January 18, largely covered by thermal plants, followed by hydroelectric and wind and solar plants, in that place of importance in terms of energy that was provided.

The maximum generation in January was reported on January 24 with 35,762 megawatt hours and for consumer companies, the day of maximum consumption was also on January 24 with 34,969 MWh.