Prepa to start US$135mn underground cabling ops. 2007

Puerto Rico's state power company Prepa expects the US$135mn, 48km underground cabling project in the metropolitan region of capital city San Juan to start operations in 2007, company spokesperson Virginia Gómez told BNamericas. The 115kV circuit aims to guarantee service to the metropolitan region in the hurricane season. The project also includes the construction of gas-insulated substations which only need maintenance every 20 years compared to the 12 years normal substations require, Gómez added. The US federal emergency management agency (Fema) of is contributing US$75mn to the project and Prepa is putting up the remaining US$60mn, she said. Earlier this month, Prepa received a separate US$14.6mn amount from Fema to repair damage caused by tropical storm Jeanne last September. MAYAGÜEZ PROJECT Prepa is currently in negotiations with potential developers for a 500MW-combined cycle, gas-fired generation project in Mayagüez in the west of Puerto Rico, Gómez said. Confidentiality agreements mean that no further details can be released at this stage, she added. The Mayagüez project would connect to a proposed US$100mn gas pipeline that Prepa and Spanish company Gas Natural SDG would develop, operate and finance. The pipeline's first stage would run from the Peñuelas in the south of Puerto Rico to Mayagüez and a second phase to San Juan.