ProInversión lines up US$2.3bn in Peruvian water projects in 2024-26

Peru's investment promotion agency ProInversión is preparing contracts and carrying out other processes to offer its portfolio of water projects to investors among a series of public-private partnerships (PPPs) . 

Between now and 2026, there are 21 projects involving investments of US$2.28bn waiting to be tendered, and efforts are being made with regional governments to decentralize works and identify new initiatives.

This was stated by Emerson Castro, the project portfolio director at ProInversión, during a webinar co-hosted by the agency and Chilean desalination association Acades. 

According to the executive, there are two contracts waiting to be awarded in public tenders this year for a combined US$419mn, while seven involving US$911mn are lined up in 2025 and the remainder in 2026.

The agency's tentative schedule can be seen below.

Project	Capex	Declaration of interest or tender call	Contract Award
Puerto Maldonado WWTP	US$89mn	-	June 2024
Lima basin/potable water works	US$330mn	June 2024	December 2024
Chincha WWTP	US$92mn	July 2024	April 2025
Ilo desalination plant	US$110mn	August 2024	May 2025
San Martin WWTP	US$106mn	August 2024	May 2025
PTAR Cajamarca	US$66mn	August 2024	May 2025
WWTP Trujillo	US$312mn	September 2024	June 2025
Huancayo WWTP	US$172mn	September 2024	June 2025
WWTP Cusco	US$53mn	September 2024	June 2025
Loreto Rural Sanitation	US$26mn	June 2025	February 2026
Chanchamayo and Concepción Sanitation	US$108mn	September 2025	March 2026
Iquitos Sanitation	US$105mn	September 2025	March 2026
Sanitation Tumbes and Contralmirante Villar	US$83mn	September 2025	March 2026
Huaura and Barranca Sanitation	US$51mn	September 2025	March 2026
San Ignacio Cajamarca Sanitation	US$25mn	September 2025	March 2026
Potable water services in Cajamarca	US$184mn	September 2025	March 2026
Cañete WWTP	US$33mn	September 2025	May 2026
Huaraz WWTP	US$27mn	4Q25	2Q26
Lambayeque WWTP	US$109mn	4Q25	2Q26
Lambayeque Desalination Plant	US$49mn	March 2026	November 2026
WWTP and Desalination Plant Paita and Talara	US$150mn	To be defined	To be defined

Source: ProInversión. Prepared by BNamericas

“The first nine are projects in the final structuring stage. This means that when the declarations of interest come out, any company will be able to state that it is interested [and participate in the eventual tender]. The projects titled Sanitation are new initiatives that the ministry of housing has commissioned us to carry out studies on,” says Castro.

According to the official, various ministries are approaching ProInversión to formulate projects since many can no longer lead such initiatives due to fiscal limitations.

“The agency is now focused on the project formulation service [for ministries]. When ministries such as housing have more projects than their fiscal capacity, they can entrust us with the formulation of these initiatives and, subsequently, the structuring and transaction,” the specialist added.

ADJUSTMENTS

Although the portfolio presented is solid and has a clear schedule, there could still be adjustments made. Of the projects presented, the Huancayo wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and Trujillo WWTP are initiatives whose capex will certainly be revised upwards.

Ernesto Zaldívar, director of the Ilo desalination and Huancayo WWTP projects, stated that the US$172mn capex for the latter initiative will be reviewed. 

“This amount is being adjusted. We have made amendments to the engineering study and an update to costs […] which are going to increase significantly,” he said.

The 23-year Huancayo contract, which is expected to be declared of interest in September 2024, is tentatively scheduled to be awarded via a tender in November 2025. 

In the case of the Trujillo WWTP, project director Jorge Sulem underscored that the update of the US$312mn project is pending, and that will be carried out in the coming months. As in the case of all of the WWTP initiatives in the portfolio, the capex may be adjusted because that they are in the final phases of project structuring before being tendered.

IRRIGATION

According to Castro, ProInversión is also working on a preliminary portfolio of irrigation projects.  

“We're preparing a portfolio that is commissioned by regional governments. The initiatives total between US$4bn and US$5bn. We've signed agreements and we're going to provide support in the formulation stage,” said Castro. "It's essential to begin to decentralize and improve coordination with local and municipal governments to explain the benefits of the PPP system," he added. 

ProInversión will continue to promote sanitation, water and irrigation projects in the medium term. According to the IDB, to close the gap in access to potable water in Peru by 2030, investments of US$7.94bn are needed, while the gap in sewerage infrastructure will cost an estimated US$11.9bn.