The government has begun the bidding process for the construction of a $42 million hydroelectric plant in the country’s northern department of Jinotega – a project that is expected to create some 2,500 construction jobs, according to official sources.
The concession is open only to Spanish construction companies, because the government of Spain is financing the project with a loan through the Central American Economic Integration Bank (BCIE).
The construction bid must be awarded by the end of February so that ground can be broken by April, the Nicaraguan Electricity Company’s spokesman,Mario Mejilla, told The Nica Times.
The project is scheduled to be completed by 2010.
The plant, which will be called Larreynaga – after Nicaragua’s Miguel Larreynaga, a driving force behind Central Americas independence in the 19th century and who today is featured on the 10 cordoba bill – is to pump water from creeks flowing from the man-made lake Apanas, and will generate 17 megawatts of energy to add to the country’s 100 existing megawatts of hydropower generated by two other plants on Apanas.
The hydroelectricity plant is part of the Ortega administration’s plan to increase and diversify the country’s energy producing capacity, 75% of which comes from oil.
