Highway Network

Nicaragua has a 23,647.09 km road network connecting the capital, Managua, to all major cities. The Pan- American Highway traverses the country from north to south. It is 381.63 km long and connects Nicaragua with Honduras and Costa Rica.

The main highways have been refurbished substantially in the last two years, including the highways that link the capital with the Western, Central and North Regions, as well as with both borders.

Nicaragua has six important seaports, among which are the Pacific coast ports of Corinto and Puerto Sandino, which have the capacity to handle international container traffic. Nicaragua also has access to Puerto Cortés in Honduras and Puerto Limón in Costa Rica, both of which are at a day’s distance by truck.

Major shipping companies such as Crowley Logistics, Seaboard Marine, Maersk Sealand, NYK Logistics are already serving the Nicaraguan market, as well as parcel carriers such as FedEx, DHL, and UPS.

The international airport, Augusto C. Sandino, is located 11 km from Managua’s urban center. It handles all international passengers and freight traffic to and from Nicaragua, and is considered one of the safest airports in Central America. 

Nicaragua is serviced by the following international airlines: American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Copa Airlines, Grupo Taca, Aerocaribbean and Spirit Airlines.

Telecommunications

The telecommunication sector is fully privatized and is considered to be one of the most modern in Central America. ENITEL, the national telephone system operator and provider of land-line services, is connected to all major international operators. The two current providers of mobile phone services are Telefónica and Grupo Móvil. Nicaragua also has several Voice over IP service providers and Internet providers of data transport services using fiber-optic and submarine cables.

The country provides several telecommunication services, such as:

• Redundant access to international submarine cables
• International private leased circuit (IPLC)
• Broadband, point-to-point data transmission and high power line data transmission capacity
• Metropolitan area optic-fiber networks
• Videoconference and voice over IP transmission
• Alternative route and disaster recovery
• 4G: WiMax technology through fiber optics and wireless (microwaves) for internet and mobile phones

Furthermore, the country provides high quality redundant connections by means of two submarine optic fiber cables. These cables have no limit as regards broadband capacity. These connections are:

• MAYA 1 – through Costa Rica to Florida (USA), Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Grand Cayman Island, and Jamaica.
• ARCOS 1 – from the Atlantic Coast (Bluefields, Nicaragua) to Florida (USA), Central America and the Caribbean.
• There are private connections to the Emergia cable.

Energy

Nicaragua's electric grid has an effective capacity of 1,000 MW, and a maximum demand of 550 MW. Approximately 64% of energy generation is currently derived from petroleum. Thus, changing the energy generation matrix towards renewable, more efficient, and sustainable sources is one of the Government’s priorities, all in a conscious effort to continuously improve the country’s competitiveness.

As of 2009, the Central American energy market had an installed capacity of 10,690 MW and a maximum demand of 6,757 MW for the same year. Since 1998, the Central American governments (including Panama) signed a treaty to integrate the Central American energy market. This treaty led to the SIEPAC project which will be a 1,143 mile long transmission network able to carry 230 KV. This system will allow energy exchange in the region and is expected to start operations in june 2011.

Nicaragua has enormous renewable energy potential from sources such as hydro, geothermal and wind power. The country has an estimated hydroelectric potential of 2,000 MW, geothermal potential of over 1,500 MW, and wind energy potential of over 800 MW. Biomass is also being utilized in order to produce renewable energy with a total potential of 200 MW.

Energy  Generation Matrix 2012

Energy Generation Matrix 2017

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