Update: December 2006

Expanded Space, Equipment and Energy Production at Shop

Between September and November of this year, blueEnergy greatly expanded its base of operations in Bluefields. In September, blueEnergy received a grant from the Canadian International Development Agency for shop equipment including an industrial welder, air compressor, and table saw as well as electrical equipment for power systems. In order to accommodate this new equipment and expand its manufacturing capabilities, blueEnergy negotiated with the National Technical Institute in Bluefields (IPCC-INATEC; the site of blueEnergy’s shop), to acquire an expanded shop space. blueEnergy moved into its new space, which is nearly three times the size of its old space, in November and began retrofitting it for production. As of the beginning of December, everything in blueEnergy’s shop – except for the welder – has been running off of blueEnergy’s expanded hybrid power system.

New Electrical Installation at New School in Punta de Aguila

blueEnergy returned to Punta de Aguila (site of first remote installation) in May to participate in the inauguration of the community’s new school. The new school is much sturdier than the former and is nearly twice as big. The blueEnergy team wired up the new school and transferred and upgraded the power system (battery box, controls, batteries, and solar panel) from the old site to the new. The small solar panel trickle-charges the battery to extend the period of time the school can go without having to do a major charge at the wind powered charging station located on a nearby hill.

After the upgrade was completed, the blueEnergy team participated in a blueEnergy-powered inauguration party complete with lighting and music.

Wind Monitoring Installation at Rama Mainland Site

The capitol of the Rama people, Rama Cay, is located in the southern area of the Bluefields Lagoon. In an effort to reduce overcrowding, the Ramas are working with a US-based nonprofit called Friends in Action to develop a new community on the mainland just to shore from the island of Rama Cay. blueEnergy was asked to participate in the planning and development of the energy system(s) for the new community and took the first step by installing a wind monitoring station in the proposed community’s territory in July. blueEnergy will work closely with the Ramas and Friends in Action going forward to ensure that the community is a model for how energy development can be done sustainably and economically in the region.

Presentation at Renewable Energy Conference in Panama

The Forum "European Union Meets Latin America on Renewable Energies" was held in Panama City on October 9 to 11, with more than 500 participants from Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe, in addition to the participation of the Ministers of Environment and Energy of the Central American Integration System (SICA: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) and other countries.

The Forum was organized jointly by the Energy and Environment Partnership with Central America (EEP), the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland as the Presidency of the European Union, the European Commission, the General Secretary of the Central American System for Integration (SG-SICA) and the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD); also, the Government of Panama through the National Authority on Environment (ANAM) collaborated actively to bring the event to fruition.

The Forum brought together representatives of governmental institutions and the private sector related to the renewable energies, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions with the objective of presenting the global situation of renewable energy, motivating political action and technology and know-how transfer; facilitating the dialogue between the private and governmental sectors on this issue; creating a contact network for information exchange and promotion of commercial alliances between Europe and Latin America; and presenting financial opportunities promoting the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The participants in the inauguration ceremony were the First Vice President of the Republic of Panama, Mr. Samuel Lewis Navarre, in representation of the President of the Republic; Mr. Alejandro Ferrer, Minister of Commerce and Industries of Panama; Ms. Ligia Castro, General Administrator of ANAM; Mr. Roberto Dobles Mora, Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica and President Protémpore of CCAD; Ms. Inger Hirvelä-López, Ambassador of Finland for Central America; and Ms. Francesca Mosca, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission for Central America.

blueEnergy receives a significant portion of its funding from the EEP and was invited to present its project at the wind power panel segment of the forum as an example of good practice in the field of rural electrification. Mathias Craig’s presentation of blueEnergy’s work to date and vision of the future was well received and helped blueEnergy attract new contacts.

[forum segment adapted from EEP website]

New Office, Radio Spot, Other Tidbits and a Look Ahead

In August blueEnergy completed its new office in Bluefields. The new space includes desk space for six people, an electronics workstation, a meeting room, and a complete backup power system.

blueEnergy worked with the Bluefields Sounds System (BSS) in November to produce a radio spot featuring nationally-renowned reggae artist, Kali Boom. The radio spot is informational in nature and is recorded in Kali’s native Creole language. The spot will air soon in Bluefields and a Spanish version is in the works for play in Managua.

Also in November, blueEnergy celebrated its 3rd Birthday Party! blueEnergy hosted a reception to mark the occasion and officially inaugurate its new Bluefields office.

blueEnergy – France (ER&DE) has rolled out its BETA website. You can navigate to it by clicking on the “français” tab at the top of the www.blueenergy.org website, by clicking the ER&DE logo at the bottom of the www.blueenergy.org website, or by navigating directly to the site: www.blueenergy.fr.

As you might suspect, blueEnergy has a full plate for the coming months. Planned activities include: building and installing a hybrid energy system as part of an integrated radio / water / energy development project in the community of Monkey Point (located on the Coast, south of Bluefields and north of Punta de Aguila); building and installing two hybrid energy systems in the community of Pearl Lagoon (located on the Coast, north of Bluefields); and building and installing a hybrid energy system in cooperation with a the Spanish nonprofit organization, DESOS, in the community of Kukra River (located south of Bluefields on the west side of the lagoon).