Electrica de Medellin, CFE sign US$33mn transmission contract

Colombian engineering company Electrica de Medellin has won a contract to build 444km of 400kV transmission line linking the northern and southern parts of Mexico's grid, state power company CFE said in a statement. The contract signed Monday is worth US$33mn, and work will be carried out in the states of Aguascalientes, Coahuila, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas. It includes the construction of three substations. Work will begin after December 1, when Argentina's Techint is scheduled to complete the first phase of the project, Electrica de Medellin CEO Gonzalo Henao told BNamericas. In the meantime, Electrica de Medellin is working on engineering studies and has started talks with Mexican export-import bank Bancomext for financing of 90% of project costs, Henao said. The line to be built by Electrica de Medellin is split into two stretches: 223.3km between Saltillo and 1 de Mayo, and 220.5km between 1 de Mayo and Cañada. Operations are planned for May 2004. The Colombian company specializes in building transmission lines, and this contract is the company's fourth in Mexico, Henao said. Its other international markets are Panama, Peru and Ecuador, he added.