The company, in association with a partner, will begin work this year on the project in the Andes, around 2000m asl. The project will include an underground power plant, 17km of tunnels, two weirs and a dam. Once completed at the end of 2013, the facility should cover the Lima region’s peak load requirements.

The Cheves hydropower plant is Hochtief Construction’s second project in the South American market. The company also built the La Confluencia hydropower plant in Chile.

Early last month it was announced that SN Power plans to invest US$400M in the Cheves project, with the scheme already approved and registered to generate carbon credits under the UN`s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).