Ecuador adds 4 projects involving US$6.5bn to its PPP portfolio

Ecuador has added four road, energy and logistics initiatives to its registry of PPP projects, totaling estimated investment of US$6.5bn.

The new projects are the Buena Fe-Babahoyo-Juján highway, the multipurpose bulk terminal in Guayas province and the Cardenillo and Santiago hydroelectric plants.

"The PPP committee approved these four new projects because Ecuador is determined to promote priority public infrastructure projects in the public-private partnership scheme, which is why we have built a system that has the highest political and technical prioritization and that also has a project development and financing strategy," Pablo Cevallos, secretary of public-private investments, told BNamericas.

With these new projects, Ecuador's PPP portfolio now has 12 initiatives involving investments of around US$10.7bn.

Of the new projects, the largest investments are planned for the Santiago plant at US$4.36bn and Cardenillo at US$1.68bn.

The Cardenillo and Santiago hydroelectric projects are part of the national electrification plan and are considered essential to meet the country's growing demand for energy and to avoid crises such as those suffered by Ecuador in the last four months of 2024, when a drought and a lack of investment forced the government to order power cuts of up to 14 hours a day.

The 120km Buena Fe-Bahoyo-Juján highway is in Los Ríos province and forms part of the Guayaquil-Quito route.

Cevallos said the widening of a 20km stretch and sections of overtaking lanes along the road are being built.

Once the works are completed, the contract to widen the entire stretch of road to four lanes and maintain and operate it for 30 years is planned to be put out to tender as a PPP.

"We are not only working on solving today's emergencies, but we are also thinking about the country's future," said the official.

Meanwhile, the concession contract held by Andipuerto for the Guayas multipurpose bulk terminal, the largest in Ecuador, expires at the end of next year, so the government of Daniel Noboa prioritized this project and plans to launch the tender to select the new operator, according to Cevallos.

The terminal receives a large proportion of the raw materials required for the agricultural and shrimp industries, among others.

"These four projects are of the highest national priority. In addition, they are aligned with the national development plan and the country's growth strategy and form a sufficiently attractive portfolio for different companies in different economic sectors to see the country as a source of opportunities," said Cevallos.