The US$800M hydro project in Colombia, Hidroelectrica Urra, has started producing power at its full capacity of 340MW.

The Colombian government has funded 40% of investments for the scheme, and 60% was raised from international loans. The controversial hydro project, which sparked environmental and native group protests, is a key component of Colombia’s power generation programme and supplies 4% of domestic power demand, estimated at 14,389MW in 2000. Other hydro projects include Porce II, La Miel, Dolores and Rio Piedras, as well as the the thermal plants TermoEmcali and Termocentro which generate 1469MW.