Yuncan hydro project to start ops by mid-Oct

Peru's 130MW Yuncan hydroelectric project has begun the test phase and will officially start operations by mid-October, newspaper Diario Correo quoted energy and mines minister Glodomiro Sánchez Mejía as saying. President Alejandro Toledo will cut the ribbon on the new plant, Sánchez Mejía added. In April local paper Expreso quoted project manager Fernando Molina as saying the project would start operations on July 1, 2005. Yuncan is in the department of Pasco, about 340km northeast of Lima. State power company Egecen is building the project, which will produce about 901GWh a year, or some 4% of national demand. Once the project is up and running, Egecen will transfer the project's operation and maintenance to Enersur under a 30-year concession license. Enersur is a local subsidiary of Belgian energy company Tractebel. It owns and operates the Ilo 1 and Ilo 2 thermoelectric plants in Peru with combined installed capacity of 362MW.