2013. — 7 c.The power system in Guatemala, besides serving its local loads, also serves as the power corridor from Mexico to other Central American countries via its interconnection with El Salvador. The regional transmission network (RTN) interconnects Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Guatemala is the most northern country of the Central American RTN and links the Central American network to the Mexican power system.
The Mexican power system (50 GW) is significantly larger than the total interconnected Central American system (7 GW) and is a very strong system compared with the Central American system.
Figure 1 illustrates the Central American Electrical Interconnection System, or SIEPAC (Sistema de Interconexión Eléctrica de los Países de América Central). A 230 kV transmission network wheels power among the members of this power system.
A 400 kV line from the Tapachula substation in Mexico to the Los Brillantes substation in Guatemala interconnects the two power systems. A power transformer steps down the voltage level to 230 kV, which is the SIEPAC transmission voltage level. The transmission system in Guatemala distributes the imported power to the local loads, but mostly wheels the power from Mexico to the SIEPAC system via the Ahuachapan substation in El Salvador.
