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Union Finosa and Grid ImprovementsSubmitted by fyl on 21 May, 2008 - 09:07.
One of the biggest electricity overhead costs in Nicaragua is lost electricity due to a very old and very inadequate distribution grid. Union Finosa should be investing in grid improvements. Well, we just found out first-hand how they plan to do that. I'm not thrilled. We are running power into the Geek Ranch. After almost deciding to run the power across the adjacent property (of La Garnacha) and meeting with some serious issues (like needing to cut a bunch of trees) we have decided to run it in from the main road. While the run is almost twice as long, the price seems to have gone from $8000 to $30,000. Not a pretty picture. Most of the cost is the materials as expected. 27 poles, a bunch of hardware and over 5000 meters of size 2/0 wire. The wire is clearly the big issue and actually costs over $8000. I asked why size 2/0. That is sufficient for about 200A. The line is at 2.4KV meaning we could attach a 2000A load at 240V. While there are a few farms beyond us (with no power) and two before us and we are talking about 200A for us, this just doesn't make sense. Well, the official word is that Union Finosa mandates size 2/0 wire minimum. Now, if we were building on the outskirts of Estelí where hundreds of houses might get built in the next 5 years, this almost makes sense. But, infrastructure for maybe 500 typical Nicaraguan houses running down one side road in the middle of the Tisey reserve—where it takes an act of at least one God and more like 2 or 3 to get permission to do anything just doesn't make a lot of sense. Adding this new knowledge to my previous knowledge about electrification projects (my small finca is supposed to have power run to in by January 2007—clearly that means they expected some sucker to pay to do it), I am starting to appreciate how much I really like electricity privatization. ( categories: )
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a more realistic...
idea might be, a big stationary engine , run on just about any type of oil, big reliable generator, maybe two or three for peak usage , batteries / inverters for night or low usage times. The grid from my experience seems to go down at the worst possible times. And thats a shit load of money to enhance someone else's grid
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
How about the Toshiba 4S...
seems like a good choice at 200 KW
It might be cheaper too. ;)
.... if you need more fuel
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
Not bad
Probably costs too much being made in Japan. I think I wait a couple of years and look for the lower-cost Chinese model. :-)
From those wonderful folks that gave us Pearl Harbour
Great pointer Doug, you have to hand it to the Japs. I wonder, Where would you get the lithium thingymijig minus 6? I just had a thought, can you imagine you bringing one down in your van and the guy at customs, any guy, asks you what it is.."Oh that's just a little nuclear plant my wife and I got for xmas last year"
Solar->Wind->Geothermal->Micro/Mini Turbine Combination?
Are there streams/creeks(passing over the land),capable of spinning Micro/Mini Turbine generators,sufficient to augment Wind/Solar/Geothermal,some combination of whatever is available,to meet the anticipated power needs?
$30K?
And that's before you pay for the first kW!
You should seriously think about producing it locally and selling the excess to your neighbors. Run a diesel generator on vegetable oil.
heck yeah..
see above, you could buy a lot of oil ( or a press to make it) for the difference
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
Well, um, alternatives
If this was "my place to live" I sure wouldn't be doing this. Clearly, we are paying to extend UF's grid. The neighbors we have might pay $100 to connect if they could and there are only two of them. But, this is a busines so I need to look at the options.
Because of the location (in the mountains at 1400 meters) solar is not a good option for maybe half the year. While there is a lot of wind it is also seasonal. So, we are basically faced with this investment or having to generate our own power a lot of the time.
Even with gas stoves and water heaters, we just have a lot of electrical demand. While we have a 30kw generator (just showed up in Corinto), even that doesn't meet our peak loads once the project gets into full swing. I don't see the price of copper or cement poles dropping anytime soon.
So, I look at it like this: The land really cost us the purchase price of the land, the road repairs, the electricity and the water system. That said, I feel pretty confident that with all that in place we could sell the property for more than we have invested.
Wow 30k?
Just buy a really big generator and a hand crank. Since labor is almost free, so I figure it would cost you about $15k --lol
1st Capt. Ron (Title by Miskito Alan)
How man KWH are you expecting to use on a monthly basis?
30K does sound like a lot of money....did you think about a hybrid wind/solar power plant?
Viva Leon Jodido!
solar
would solar or wind be cheaper
stew in san gorge
put a pole in and a transformer to power up his quinta .
i belive he paid 8000 only to have the guy next door to get his power in for nothing . i could be wrong but i belive he was stealing power before this new line was in.
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