2008-06-20

Colombian Emgesa Prepares New Hydro, Thermal Power Projects

Colombian electricity generation and distribution company Emgesa prepares a portfolio of new hydroelectric and thermal power projects, the first of which will be El Quimbo hydroelectric power plant, Emgesa's President, Lucio Rubio Diaz, said on June 20, 2008.

According to Rubio Diaz, the projects are still in a preliminary phase of development. The hydroelectric power plants include Chapasias and the 480 MW Guaicaramo, while the thermal projects include an additional turbine at Termozipa thermoelectric power plant (TPP). The other thermal projects will be officially presented when the company completes the feasibility studies and the Colombian Government implements the new energy auction system. The investments in Guaicaramo are not yet defined, but they will be probably higher than the investments in El Quimbo, that might reach $700 mln (449.8 mln euro) or $800 mln (514 mln euro), Rubio Diaz explained. Meanwhile, Emgesa's plans include the construction of small-scale hydroelectric power plants with a combined capacity of 240 MW.

Emgesa (www.emgesa.com.co), which is controlled by Spanish utility Endesa, generated 11,930 GWh of electricity in 2007, which accounted for 22.4 pct of the total national electricity output. In 2007, Emgesa merged with local utility Betania and became Colombia's first electricity producer leaving behind Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM).

Publication: Business Digest
Provider: AII Data Processing Ltd.
Date: June 20, 2008

Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Colombia To Study Cross-Border Power Grid

The governments of Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Peru and Colombia will contract a company to conduct feasibility studies about an electricity interconnection between the five countries, Ecuadorian media reported on June 18, 2008.

The countries' deputy energy ministers met in Quito, Ecuador, on June 17 and 18 to analyse the offers presented by 10 international consultancy companies. One of them will be selected to carry out the study.

The study will take at least a year and should include issues like the regional energy supply and demand and the physical interconnection, the policy management undersecretary to Ecuador's Electricity Ministry, Pablo Cisneros, said.

The results will help to make an advance in the regional energy integration.

Publication: Business Digest
Provider: AII Data Processing Ltd.
Date: June 19, 2008

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