Australia's Pacific Hydro has taken steps towards agreeing the sale of hydro power from its La Confluencia hydro project in Chile.
Once the financial details of the 145MW hydro scheme are resolved, Hidroelectrica La Higuera, a joint venture between Pacific Hydro and Statkraft Norfund Power Invest, will formally agree to supply electricity to Chilectra, a subsidiary of Chilean utility Enersis.
The companies met last week to sign the conditional power supply agreement. Sale of hydro power generated by the plant is expected to begin in April 2009.
The La Confluencia project is located in central Chile’s Tinguiririca river, which had previously been identified by Pacific Hydro as an area of potential growth. The Upper Cachapoal river also provided opportunities for hydro power development, said managing director Jeff Harding.
Pacific Hydro already has a significant presence in Chile, having bought the 39.3MW Coya and 37MW Pangal hydro power plants from the Codelco copper company for US$75.6M earlier this year.
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