Swedish company Skanska and the state-owned power com-pany EGECEN in Peru have reached an agreement whereby Skanska will construct the new Yuncan hydro power plant. Skanska will have a 60% share in the SKr970M (US$117M) contract.

The project mainly involves underground work, including the 134MW power station for the run-of-river plant. More than 20km of rock tunnels will be excavated by two tunnel boring machines.

Work is scheduled to begin in June and construction is anticipated to last for 36 months. The plant, which is located at 1800-2400m asl, utilises the water from the Paucartambo and Huachon rivers in the eastern Andes, 330km from Lima.

Skanska’s current commitment to hydro power projects, in Pakistan and Iceland, is estimated to total about SKr600M (US$72.5M).

A new SKr450M (US$54M) project is also scheduled for start up in Sri Lanka in the near future, the company reports.