How much do people spend on energy in Guatemala?

In the urban area around Guatemala City, households spend on average 10–15% of monthly income on energy expenses (including electricity, kerosene, propane, coal, batteries, firewood, and candles). Only in a select few municipalities near Guatemala City center is the Energy Poverty Indicator below 10%.

How much electricity does Guatemala need?

We estimate future electricity demand based on Guatemala's residential electricity demand in year 2018 and its historical growth in total electricity demand. Specifically, residential electricity consumption was an estimated 3.7 TWh per year in 2018 (IEA, 2021), or roughly one-third of the country's total electricity demand.

Where is electricity most expensive in Guatemala?

Electricity expenditure is greatest in the eastern and northern parts of the country, because electricity prices, even with subsidies, are more expensive there (CNEE, 2020). As such, the rural eastern and northern regions are more vulnerable to electricity price increases than the urban areas of Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango.

How much does wind energy cost in Guatemala?

That is, capital costs for wind energy in Guatemala from SEERE simulations are between $2286–8310/kW, while other sources find ranges of $1000–4500/kW for large-scale turbines and $2500–15,000/kW for small turbines.

How are capital costs for renewable technologies calculated in Guatemala?

The northern municipalities of Guatemala are more sparsely populated and make up a large part of the off-grid generation in our analysis. As described in Section 3.1, capital costs for renewable technologies are calculated in SEERE from the electricity demand requirements and natural resource (wind, solar, hydro) availability of a region.

Are renewables cheaper in Guatemala than fossil fuels?

Thus, it is possible that if coal costs are at the higher end of the Lazard (2017) distribution, and renewable technology costs are close to regional default values, renewables would be cheaper on average in Guatemala than fossil fuels (Fig. C2).