Paraguay awards over US$80mn in power contracts amid record demand

Paraguay’s state power company Ande awarded contracts for a combined US$81mn in the third phase of a program to strengthen the distribution network.

The call was divided into five lots with a combined budget of US$100mn to benefit 13 departments.

The winners were:

• Consorcio Líneas Protegidas (CDD Construcciones-Delpar Ingeniería-Deco-Tecmag Ingeniería-Rotel Ingeniería) US$11.5mn
  • Lot 1: Central (Cordillera, Paraguarí), Chaco (Presidente Hayes)
• Consorcio ISS (Ingelco-Santa Isabel de Norma Girett-Semesa) US$16.5mn
  • Lot 2: Centro (Caaguazú, Guairá, Caazapá)
• Consorcio Eléctrico del Este (LT-Abundio Lopez Ibarra) US$16.9mn
  • Lot 3: Norte (Concepción, Amambay, San Pedro)
• Consorcio Eléctrico CCS (Construcciones y Vivienda Paraguayas-Singel-Concret Mix) US$18.1mn
  • Lot 4: Este (Alto Paraná)
• Consorcio del Este (Benito Roggio e Hijos-Empresa de Servicios Técnicos-Santa María Ingeniería del Ing. Asunción Arguello) US$18.4mn
  • Lot 5: Sur (Itapuá, Misiones, Ñeembucú)

BNamericas previously reported that 17 groups submitted offers.

The winners will have 36 months to complete the work, which Latin American development bank CAF is helping finance.

NEW RECORD

The awards come amid a new demand record for Paraguay of 4,436MW on December 1 that broke the previous high of 4,372MW set on November 30, Ande reported.

The bulk of offtake was covered by the Itaipú and Yacyretá binational hydroelectric dams, which supplied 3,313MW and 1,040MW, respectively. Ande’s Acaray hydro provided 106MW.

Information from the mines and energy department shows that demand rose 34% year-on-year in October and consumption 31%, reaching 4,204MW and 1,942GWh respectively.

Electricity use in the country has spiked due to higher-than-normal temperatures.