Peru’s Cálidda raises guidance on natural gas connections

Peruvian natural gas distributor Cálidda, which serves Lima and Callao, plans to add 200,000-210,000 connections this year and reach 1.50mn-1.51mn clients at end-December.

That is according to the Grupo Energía Bogotá-controlled company’s latest financials, which highlight that nearly 139,000 connections were added in the first half and that the number of customers at end-June totaled 1.44mn.

The targets are an increase from previous guidance of 150,000-160,000 connections to reach 1.45mn-1.46mn users.

Cálidda, which attributed the higher expectations to solid quarterly results, also raised the build-out of its network, and now plans to add 1,300km-1,350km this year versus 1,200km-1,300km.

In the first six months of 2022, the concessionaire added 856km to its distribution system which totaled 15,263km at end-June.

In the second quarter, Cálidda, whose 33-year renewable concession expires in 2033, sold 767Mf3/d (million cubic feet), up 3% year-on-year, most of which went to power generators. In terms of connections, the bulk are residential and commercial.

Source: Cálidda

Last month, Latin American development bank CAF approved up to US$150mn in financing to help Cálidda with its infrastructure build-out.

Also in July, energy and mining investment regulator Osinergmin published a complementary resolution related to the distributor’s 2022-26 tariffs after the release of the original resolution in May.