Isolux signs Peruvian transmission concession

The consortium Isolux Transmisora Peruana, made up of two subsidiaries of Spain's Isolux Corsan, has signed the Moyobamba - Iquitos power transmission concession in Peru.

The contract involves the concession to design, finance, build, operate, and maintain a 630-kilometer, 220-kilovolt transmission line linking the north-central city of Moyobamba with the remote Amazon city of Iquitos for a period of 30 years plus the construction period (52 months).

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and Energy and Mines Minister Eleodoro Mayorga recently inked the contract at the presidential palace with Madrid-based Isolux Ingenieria and Mexico City-based Isolux de Mexico.

Isolux won the contrcat in June by offering a total investment of US$499 million and an equivalent service cost of US$74.6 million. It beat out competition from Abengoa which offered a total investment of US$579 million and an equivalent service cost of US$86.7 million.

The transmission line will connect Iquitos, capital of Peru’s northernmost Loreto region, with Peru’s main grid. Currently, that city relies on an isolated electricity system based on fossil fuel-fired power generation.

Under the terms of the contract, awarded on June 5, the line will deliver 150 megawatts to Iquitos, or triple that Amazon city’s current demand, although its transmission capacity will be 300 megawatts.

The infrastructure also will integrate a fiber-optic network that will improve telecommunications between the Loreto region and the rest of the country.