| Work Detail |
The national State will begin to transfer US $ 1,023 million from October for five years for the Province to take charge of the work.
The project is ready and has been consulted by a score of companies, both Argentine and foreign. Governor Alfredo Cornejo and Interior Ministers Rogelio Frigerio and Hacienda Nicolás Dujovne signed the agreement to transfer the national funds so that Mendoza will be in charge of tendering and executing the construction of Portezuelo del Viento.
The national state will begin transferring $ 1,023 million dollars for five years from October for the Province to take charge of the work, whose bidding process would be opened next August, but which will take no less than six months for interested companies to do numbers and submit offers, so the award will be in the hands of the next governor.
Portezuelo del Viento is not a work, but five. On the one hand, the construction of the reservoir and the hydroelectric power station, for another 250 kilometers of high voltage line that connects the plant with the transforming station of the Diamante River (located a few kilometers northeast of Los Reyunos, in San Rafael); the relocation of Las Loicas, the Malargüino village that will be submerged by the reservoir; and the new route of two routes, a national one, the almost 42 new kilometers of the 145, which leads to the Pehuenche Pass, and 26 kilometers of the provincial 226, which connects Las Loicas with the Paso Vergara.
So far, the idea is to tender each of these parts separately. As indicated by the Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure and Energy, since the middle of last year there is a private website called "Data room", in which interested companies have been able to consult the characteristics of the work.
There are a score of companies, some from Chinas, others from the United States and Europe, as well as several Argentines, who have processed a username and password to consult the project prepared by the Province.
The novelty is what was missing to start the bidding process. Cornejo and his government minister Lisandro Nieri, met with Frigerio and Dujovne and signed the transfer agreement for the funds to be the province that is responsible for the tender and execution of the work.
The amount comes from the calculations made by the provincial government when developing the project. 1,023 million dollars.
Now, the procedure indicates that the signed agreement must be ratified by the Provincial Legislature. The bill should soon arrive so that the two legislative chambers can approve the agreement by a majority and start the bidding process.
Minister Nieri explained that national payments begin in October and will be stretched for five years "will ensure us to be anticipated in the payment of certificates," he said.
The exultant Nieri said that "what is charged for the sale of energy is from Mendoza. That money will be affected to build other hydroelectric works. " Indeed, the transfer of the money that the province committed, is part of the agreement signed in 2006 by Julio Cobos and Néstor Kirchner, for which the Nation undertook to compensate Mendoza for the effects of industrial promotion.
That is why what the hydroelectric power plant generates would be profit for the province.
Cornejo recalled national breaches. "They were successive agreements that were not fulfilled and that became a reality with the issuance of these bonds that pay the debt with the province and that allows financing this infrastructure work important for the development of southern Mendoza and for the energy of all the Province".
For his part, Frigerio indicated that "Portezuelo del Viento is fundamental for the province, for the region and for the country because not only will it generate energy, but it will also improve irrigation in the region and serve as a protection against flooding in the basin. middle and upper Colorado River. Those are the concrete works that change the lives of Argentines. "
Keys
210 megawatts of installed power.
510 meters of crown length
178 meters maximum height
500 cubic hectometres of reservoir capacity
250 kilometers of line of 220 kilovolts to connect the plant with the Rio Diamante Transformation Station (where the energy is charged to the interconnected system). |
