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The Government agreed with UTE to terminate the contract for El Tambolar and is awaiting approval from the Chamber of Deputies.
The agreement implies a termination by mutual agreement, which must be approved by the Legislative Branch.
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After several months of negotiations, the province reached an agreement with the companies that won the tender and were in charge of the El Tambolar dam project. Official sources, linked to the business sector, confirmed that the Orreguista administration and the union of companies made up of Panedile, Sacde, Petersen, Thiele and Cruz and the Chinese state company Sinohydro, signed the termination of the contract by mutual agreement, so the project will be released for a future change or a new tender, if the provincial administration so wishes. In addition, the sources indicated that said document will be sent to the Chamber of Deputies to be ratified by the legislative body, a step that is expected to occur tomorrow, on the agenda, in an ordinary session. Even, according to what was learned, from the presidency of the body, in the hands of Fabián Martín, they informed the deputies of the agreement for the work and that it is set to be discussed in the chamber. With the signed document, the province has taken a key step towards clearing the way for a project that aims to provide 70 megawatts (70 MW) to the national interconnected system, enough energy to supply some 70 thousand homes.
The agreement between the Executive and the companies for this dam had been circulating for days, to the point that this newspaper published two weeks ago that the signing was imminent and that it was going to be discussed in the House of Representatives. In fact, the project was scheduled to be discussed in the same session in which the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) was approved. Apparently, the document required further negotiation, which was finally completed now. Last night a source from the provincial government contacted this newspaper to assure that the agreement had not yet occurred, which other actors denied. They even confirmed that the agreement was indeed ready. According to the business sector, there is an agreement between the Executive and the Temporary Union of Companies (UTE) to cancel the contract for the dam work, to the point that official confirmation is expected to emerge today from the Orreguista administration, according to a source who participated in the negotiations.
The El Tambolar dam is projected to generate enough energy to supply some 70,000 homes.
What was not revealed was the fine details of the agreement, since, from last December until March, there were cross-claims between the state company in charge of the tender, Energía Provincial Sociedad del Estado (EPSE), and the UTE. The former urged the construction companies to resume the tasks that had been paralyzed, while the latter claimed that it could not move forward because EPSE did not approve a change in the executive project. In the meantime, there was a disbursement of some 800 thousand dollars for the purchase of equipment that had not yet arrived.
A key point regarding an agreement is that all parties sign the document. Thus, since the UTE is made up of several companies, it was essential that each of them sign the agreement. According to reports, Sacde, Petersen, Thiele and Cruz and the Chinese state company Sinohydro agreed to sign an agreement with the province, but the remaining one was Panedile. Qualified sources indicated that this signing has already taken place.
Although there is now an agreement between the parties, the private sector pointed out that “the companies are owed funds”, while official sources explained that an agreement implies that “the province should not pay a single peso more for the work”, so it remains to be seen how the counterpoint will end. A crucial item in the negotiation between the parties was when, in June, the UTE went to court through an injunction, along with a precautionary measure, an action that did not prosper and was rejected. At the time, the business sector had reported that the objective of the judicial measure was to force the province to negotiate, something that was not happening. Once that stage was completed, the sources indicated that “there is an agreement with the Government” so only official confirmation from the Executive is left.
For the province, the El Tambolar Hydroelectric Project is important not only for the energy it will generate, but also for the number of jobs it will require. Initially, it was estimated that there would be 1,400 direct workers at the peak of construction. The dam began construction in April 2020 and only 40 percent progress was achieved. The budget for the project was 750 million dollars, but after the call for tenders and an improvement in the offer, it was awarded for 488 million dollars.
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Source: https://www.0264noticias.com.ar/ |
