AES Corporation, based in Virginia in the US, has announced that its subsidiary in Panama, AES Panama Energy, will begin construction in July on the 120MW Esti hydroelectric facility at Gualaca in western Panama. The AES unit will operate the plant under a 50-year concession.
Empresas ICA of Mexico and General Electric Company have been contracted for the project which is expected to cost US$192.7M. The country’s Office of the President said that construction of the hydro facility will ease Panama’s dependency on imported oil and lend stability to the price of power.