ECUADOR’S HIDRORIENTE consortium plans to sign a US$350M financing agreement with the Andean Development Corporation for its US$500M El Reventador hydro project.
The balance requirements are to come from its own capital and US$25M from the Scudder Latin American Power Fund, which will receive an equity interest in the project in return. The 520MW plant is expected to produce 4300GWh annually. Hidroriente plans to call for bids for the construction of the project shortly, with construction slated to start by the end of the first quarter 2004.
Empresa Electrica Quito will buy about 75% of the power generated by the plant and the remainder is to be sold to other distributors or on the spot market. The El Reventador hydro plant is expected to eliminate 3.2Mt of harmful carbon dioxide emissions and save consumers some US$150M a year in lower electricity bills.