Chile launches tender for $1.3 B transmission line
CEN has published the schedule for tendering the $1.3B Kimal-Lo Aguirre line, the most significant transmission project in the country’s pipeline.
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Chile, Santiago: Chile’s electrical grid coordinator CEN has published the schedule for tendering the $1.3 B Kimal-Lo Aguirre line, the most significant transmission project in the country’s pipeline.
The tender will be launched on 26 October, with interested entities able to register until November 30. Registrants can access preliminary tender conditions and technical documents, on which they may comment.
CEN expects to issue definitive terms and conditions on 1 February, which will allow companies to register as participants in the tender, receive final bids from 2 – 4 August and award the project on 29 October, 2021.
The project involves building a 1,500 km bipolar high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission line with dedicated metallic return and two AC/DC converter stations, connecting the existing Kimal substation in northern Antofagasta region with the Lo Aguirre substation in the Metropolitan region, west of capital Santiago.
With the project, which will have a 2,000 MW capacity, authorities aim to bolster the interconnection between the country’s northern and central regions to prepare the system for the transport of more energy from renewable plants in the north toward the country’s biggest demand nodes.
The call was recently sped up by Chile’s energy ministry, which issued a decree that allowed CEN to push through with the tender process, eliminating a requirement to conduct a field study to determine the route of the line to minimize its environmental and social impact. The ministry asked CEN to award the project before November 2021.
While there is widespread agreement in the sector that the line must be developed as quickly as possible to avoid congestion problems, some observers have warned that skipping the field study could have unintended consequences, as Bnamericas previously reported.
Source: BNamericas