With the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) conducted an evaluation of hydrogen and geothermal energy development across five countries in Latin America. As part of this project, K&M contributed specifically to the geothermal energy development component, focusing on three countries: El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Peru.

K&M undertook the task of producing a Policy Brief, aiming to identify past and existing bottlenecks, potential risks, inherent advantages, and future opportunities pertaining to geothermal energy development in El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Peru. The Policy Brief served as a comprehensive document outlining the findings and recommendations for various stakeholders, including governments within the region, multilateral organizations, official development assistance agencies, the private sector, and other relevant entities that emerged throughout the research process. The aim was to provide actionable recommendations to support and facilitate geothermal energy development in the region.

The objective of this study is to estimate the cost of LNG transported in truck from an existing LNG import terminal in Panama to large energy users in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
K&M developed a cost model to estimate the cost per MMBtu of transporting small amounts of LNG from an LNG Terminal to each of the countries using LNG trucks and trailers, and multimodal transport (by road and sea) in ISO containers. K&M provided recommendations on the optimal option for transporting LNG. The study also reviewed risks related to relevant trade, tax, and environmental regulations that could affect the cost and/or time of transporting the LNG.

The World Bank contracted K&M to help the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) in Costa Rica quantify the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on its operations and, as appropriate, make evidence-based justifications for additional funding as a response to the pandemic. A financial model will be used to provide a baseline of AyA’s financial statements, and it will be updated with the current and projected financial information, to demonstrate COVID-19’s impact on AyA’s cash flow. The exercise is expected to inform AyA’s management, policy makers, and other institutions and authorities that are responding to the pandemic which could include the Ministry responsible for water (MINAE), the Ministry of Finance, legislature, and debt holders.

K&M was contracted to provide the consulting services for strategic advisory support for the development of low and high enthalpy geothermal projects in selected countries in Latin America. The consultancy will provide strategic advice regarding barriers to the development of GE and provide recommendations to reduce or dismantle these barriers. As part of this assignment, K&M will conduct analyses and provide strategic advice and recommendations for four out of the following nine countries in Latin America with untapped geothermal potential: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Peru. The four countries will be selected by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) during the execution of the consultancy.