Alstom to build turbines for Fabricio Ojeda hydro project

The Brazilian unit of French firm Alstom Power is set to start building the turbines for Venezuela's Fabricio Ojeda hydro project in Brazil's São Paulo state, state-owned electricity firm Cadafe said in a statement. The turbines will power the 514MW Fabricio Ojeda powerhouse on the La Vueltosa dam, which is the third and final phase of the 1,759MW Uribante Caparo hydroelectric complex in Merida state. Besides the turbines, Alstom will build the powerhouse, transmission lines and two substations. Cadafe and Alstom signed a US$160mn contract in 2003 for Alstom to provide turbines for the facility. The facility will start operations by mid 2006, according to the schedule announced by President Hugo Chávez when the contract was signed. Brazil's national development bank BNDES agreed to a US$121mn loan for the construction of Fabricio Ojeda. Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA is also helping finance US$33.6mn of the project. A commission from Cadafe's Desurca subsidiary serving the Andes region has just returned from Grenoble, France where Alstom made a demonstration of the turbines using a scale model. Desurca president Arnoldo Uribe said the demo was "highly satisfactory." Uribante-Caparo will be located in the border region between the states of Barinas, Mérida and Táchira. Cadafe is an integrated power company. While it is focused on transmission, distribution and commercialization, it has 4,000MW installed capacity and is developing projects such as Uribante-Caparo to enhance its hydro generation capacity.