ISA wins US$295mn transmission contract

Colombia's state-owned transmission company ISA has won the bidding to build and operate two 500kV lines totaling 1,000km that connect the center of the country to the Caribbean coast, ISA said in a statement Thursday. ISA bid US$294.8mn, undercutting rival company EEB. When the energy and mines planning unit, UPME, called for bids, it estimated investment of US$350mn. The center and north of the country are already connected, but the extra capacity in the new lines will allow for more of the cheaper hydro generation to reach the drier north, where generation is predominately thermoelectric. Furthermore, the new lines offer greater transport options in the scenario of guerilla attacks on transmission lines, which have in the past isolated the north from the rest of the country. The first part of the project, called Bogota, will link the Bacata substation near the capital with the Primavera station in the north, thereby expanding the transmission grid to facilitate supply from other parts of the country towards demand centers in Bogota. The second part of the project, called Costa, consists of three single circuit 500kV lines totaling 712km, two double circuit 220kV line and one single circuit 200kV line, as well as the construction of new substations and the expansion of existing substations. It will connect the Primavera substation with the Bolivar substation in the Caribbean city of Cartagena. The new project will increase ISA's network of 500kV lines by 24% to 2,500km, and its participation in the national transmission system (STN) to 74%. Operations are scheduled for 2007.