Transmission Co. debt $321 million plus

Official reports from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) reveal debts of the Electric Transmission Company, S.A. (Etesa) in the amount of $ 331.1 million, through turnkey projects and financial commitments acquired as a separate entity from the Non-Financial Public Sector (SPNF).

According to the official report on state debt, through turnkey projects, until May 2018, Etesa has accounts payable in the amount of $ 272.8 million, due to the financing acquired for the third electric transmission line.

Also another report of the MEF, on the debt of the separate entities of the NFPS, details that, until April 2018, Etesa had a debt of $ 58.3 million.

So far, Etesa’s financial statements have not been accessed, so experts believe that there are likely to be other accounts payable.

THIRD TRANSMISSION LINE

In October 2017, President Juan Carlos Varela inaugurated the third electric transmission line. Its late entry into operation with the measurement caused that on Thursday, July 5, an upward adjustment was announced, which was suspended weeks later by the Executive.

The construction of the third line was awarded to the Brazilian Odebrecht Engineering and International Construction in 2013, and aimed to increase the power transmission capacity and reliability in the system.

The third double circuit line has an extension of 301 kilometers from Veladero, in Chiriquí, to Condado del Rey, in the capital city, with a capacity to transport 800 MW. The initiative led by Etesa was built, parallel, north of lines 1 and 2, already in operation.

The project has 857 towers, with an approximate distance of between 300 and 400 meters between the structures. The average height is 30 to 48 meters and in special cases, such as the Panama Canal crossing, they can be between 120 and 140 meters high.

It is also suitable with four existing substations: Veladero (Chiriquí), Llano Sánchez (Coclé), La Chorrera (Panama West) and Panama (Capital), which will allow monitoring and operating the three networks from the National Dispatch Center (CND) through of fiber optic cables.

FOURTH TRANSMISSION LINE

Through an addendum, last week Etesa reported that on August 3 it will deliver the pre-qualification proposals of the fourth transmission line, instead of July 27, as originally planned.

The call for the construction of the project that will cost $ 500 million is made within the framework of the criticisms that arise after the announcement that the delayed entry into operation of the third line caused a rise in the price of the electricity tariff, for the second semester of 2018, but this was suspended by Executive orders.

The fourth line includes the design, construction, supply and installation engineering, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the Chiriquí Grande-Panamá III fourth electric transmission line, with 500 KV and associated substations.

At the end of last May, the Cabinet Council authorized the prequalification of the companies that choose to participate in the tender of the project, whose objective is to increase the capacity of transmission of high voltage energy, coming from the provinces of Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro to Panama, touring the Atlantic sector of the country.

The work, about 317 kilometers long, is expected to be tendered and awarded this year, so that by 2019 it will begin construction and start operations in 2022.

The fourth line will have a transport capacity of 1,400 MW under normal operating conditions and 1,800 MW in emergency conditions.

Being the largest to operate in the country (the current operate at 115 and 230 KV), it seeks to “guarantee through prequalification that the contractor has the financial and technical capabilities to develop the project,” according to Etesa.
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