Guatemalan coffee farms aim to sell electricity

[jpak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN2425054420070725

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan coffee producers are looking for financing to sell power from small hydroelectric plants on their farms to the national electricity grid, but some fear the costs of the effort would be too high.

Christian Rasch, the president of Guatemala's coffee growing association Anacafe, said with the financing the coffee industry could help the country meet its energy needs.

"The coffee industry now generates a little more than 50 megawatts of electricity but production could easily rise to over 500 megawatts if we can take advantage of new sites," he said. "We need funds to connect transmission lines."

Many coffee farms in mountainous, rainy Guatemala have rivers flowing through their land, some with small hydroelectric plants generating enough electricity to process coffee during the six-month harvest season.

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