HGV to receive Hornitos bids by end-Feb.

Chilean hydro generator Hidroeléctrica Guardia Vieja (HGV) expects to receive bids by the end of February for three contracts related to its US$63mn, 55MW Hornitos run-of-the-river project, project director Pablo Lois told BNamericas Monday. HGV will receive bids on two contracts for 10.5km of tunnels and 1.5km of water channels at the end of January, and will receive bids on a third contract for the provision and installation of a single 55MW Pelton turbine at the end of February, Lois said. The tunnel and channel contracts will be awarded in the first two weeks of February, while the turbine contract will be awarded by mid-March, he said. Work on the tunnels and channels, which accounts for 70% of the total civil construction work on the project, should start in early March, he said, adding preliminary work on access roads has already started. Operations are scheduled for 2007, Lois said. HGV submitted on Monday a formal request to President Ricardo Lagos for an indefinite concession to build the plant, after having submitted the request to national energy regulator SEC two months ago, Lois said. The latest request is a bureaucratic necessity. The permit will enable HGV to finalize the purchase of the remaining 20% of the land required to build the plant, Lois said, adding about 80% of the land has already been bought. In mid-2004, HGV reached an agreement with the World Bank (WB) to register the project as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the Kyoto Protocol which will enable it to sell CO2 emissions credits (CERs) at a future date, Lois said. HGV's 25MW, 175GWh/year Chacabuquito hydro project was the WB's first CDM project in Latin America and started operations in 2002. Hornitos is planned for Region V and would have 55MW total capacity, 23MW firm capacity and annual generation of 280GWh. Chile's Matte group owns HGV, which intends to meet most of the construction costs from its own equity, Lois said.