Electric power: The week in 10 stories

ARGENTINA

San Juan's provincial energy company EPSE opened bids to build the US$750mn El Tambolar multipurpose hydro project.

The country's 4th round of renewable energy auctions RenovAr will be launched later this year, renewable energy undersecretary Sebastián Kind announced during a presentation at the WindEurope conference.

BRASIL

Equatorial Energia closed a 1.24bn-real (US$320mn) financing agreement with development bank BNDES.

The audit court concluded that failure to complete work under a transmission line concession contract for the Belo Monte hydro plant caused a nearly 1.5bn-real (US$387mn) loss for the country.

The energy ministry published the guidelines for the next A-4 power tender for new generation projects on June 28.

Gás Natural Açu, a joint venture between Prumo Logística, BP and Siemens, closed financing agreements to build the 1.3GW gas-fired UTE GNA I plant in the Açu port complex in Rio de Janeiro state.

CHILE

Tercera Región Solar, owned by Miami-based Sonnedix, submitted an EIS for its US$165mn Meseta de Los Andes project to the environmental evaluation system.

MEXICO

After his nominations to fill four seats on the board of energy regulator CRE failed to win the approval of senators, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made use of his legal prerogative to appoint the four directly.

Federal electricity utility CFE saw losses of 14.3bn pesos (US$744mn) in 2017 due to the failure of municipalities and states to pay their bills, according to a motion presented to congress.

VENEZUELA

And Venezuela began 30 days of electricity rationing as the government moved to ease a deepening energy crisis.