El Chaparral will operate until 2023, according to CEL

Gabriela Villarroel

The El Chaparral hydroelectric power plant will finally begin operations in 2023, after 15 years of work and almost three years of promises by the current Government, according to the Lempa River Hydroelectric Executive Commission (CEL).

The president of CEL, Daniel Álvarez, assured yesterday to deputies of the Finance Commission of the Legislative Assembly, that the electricity generation project will finally see the light of day next year. This, however, he admitted after questions from the opposition deputy, Claudia Ortiz, who pointed out the low execution of physical works programmed for this project in the institution's budget plan for 2023.

"In the 2022 budget, the percentage goal for the execution of the physical works of El Chaparral was 7%, and now the execution is 0.4%. Could you explain why the decrease?", she asked.

The president of CEL responded, "I don't understand your question, number one; and number two, it has nothing to do with the execution of the work with the budget."

However, the draft budget that CEL presented to the deputies includes a 0.41% physical goal for the development of El Chaparral's infrastructure, for an amount of $115.6 million. When questioned again, the head of CEL rectified this by saying that "the project has already been completed, and that is why there is less execution" programmed.

In 2008, CEL began construction with an initial budget of $207.8 million. However, the cost has tripled to more than $759 million, financed with its own resources and a loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).