Colombia: Empresas Publicas de Medellin Awards Main Civil Works of 2,400-MW Ituango Hydro Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Last Tuesday, August 28, 2012, public utility Empresas Publicas de Medellin E.S.P. (EPM) (Medellin, Colombia), on behalf of its subsidiary EPM Ituango S.A. E.S.P. (Medellin), awarded to CCC Ituango consortium the construction of the main civil works of a 2,000-Megawatts (MW) Ituango hydro project, to be built on the Cauca River in the Department of Antioquia.

The contract includes the construction of the 225-meters high earth-core rock-fill dam, the spillway, the conduction tunnels, the intake works, the discharge tunnels and the underground powerhouse structure with room for eight 300-MW Francis hydro-turbine generator sets.

The winning consortium is formed by Colombian construction companies Conconcreto S.A. (Medellin) (35%) and Coninsa Ramon H. S.A. (Medellin) (10%) and the Brazilian Construçoes e Comercio Camargo Correa S.A. (Sao Paulo, Brazil) (55%). According to the proposal, the work is expected to be completed in 2,080 days, and the overall cost is CO$1.89 trillion (which is about $1 billion with the current exchange rate).

EPM expects the supply and installation of the eight hydro-turbine generator sets to be installed in two phases. The first four units should be operational by the end of 2018, and the remaining four by the end of 2021 depending on the electricity demand evolution.

Finally, in July 2012, EPM released documents for three tenders for the supply of two overhead travelling cranes and associated equipment; gates and associated equipment for deviation, adduction and aspiration works; and 25 transformers with auxiliary equipment. EPM will receive bid documents for the three tenders through October, and the contracts should be awarded by January 2013.

The Ituango hydroelectric project is the property of mixed-capital company Hidroelectrica Ituango S.A. E.S.P. In March 2011, this company awarded a 50-year build, own, operate, maintenance and transfer contract to EPM Ituango. Since August 2011, a consortium formed by Ferrovial Agroman Chile S.A. (Santiago, Chile) and Sainc Ingenieros Constructores S.A. (Cali, Colombia), is working on the deviation works and the access to the underground powerhouse.

Once its eight units are operational, the Ituango plant will be the major hydroelectric facility in Colombia.

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