Regulator delays receiving Punutuma-Tarija bids until Aug 31

Bolivia's electricity regulator SIE has delayed until August 31 the deadline for receiving bids on a contract to build and operate the Punutuma-Tarija transmission line connecting Tarija department to the national SIN grid, SIE project manager and wholesale market director José Salazar told BNamericas. SIE had planned to receive bids on July 7, but delayed the date until the end of August due to requests from the five companies that bought bidding rules for more time as a result of the country's uncertain political situation, Salazar said. "There have been some political problems in this country which have led to uncertainty in the sector, so the companies asked for a two month extension," he said. "We hope that by the end of August there will be more clarity and stability in the political situation." Protests and roadblocks by miners, workers and peasants demanding the nationalization of Bolivia's hydrocarbons reserves and more political power for indigenous peoples forced former President Carlos Mesa to resign in June. Mesa's replacement, former supreme court justice Eduardo Rodríguez, achieved a temporary truce with the protesters and has promised to hold presidential elections by the end of the year. The firms that bought bidding rules for the Punutuma-Tarija line are: local transmission company Transportadora de Electricidad (TDE), owned by Spain's REE; Colombia's state transmission company ISA; Brazil's Alusa; Germany's Siemens; and local company Ingelec, Salazar said. Estimated investment in the project is US$35mn. The contract will be awarded in September-October and signed in October-November, he said. The idea is to start construction in the first half of 2006, which should take 18 months. In the short term, the line will improve the reliability of the electricity supply and lower tariffs for Tarija's 33,000 consumers, while in the medium term it will allow Tarija to inject electricity generated from natural gas into the national grid through Potosí department. The line could also facilitate the export of electricity to Argentina, Salazar said. "Tarija has a great future because it has 98% of the country's gas reserves," he added. The project follows a law passed in September 2004 that made connecting Tarija with the SIN a national priority.