2 New Hydro Plants Announced in Honduras

TEGUCIGALPA – Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht announced it will build two hydroelectric dams in Honduras at a total cost of roughly $600 million, officials here said Jan. 27.

The Los Llanitos and Jicatuyo dams will be built along the UluaRiver in Santa Barbara province and will generate a total of 210 megawatts of electricity, Honduran President Mel Zelaya’s office said in a statement.

The agreement was signed Jan. 26 by Zelaya, Odebrecht CEO Marcelo Jardine and representatives of the Brazilian government, the statement said, adding that construction is set to begin this year and should be completed in 2014.

Financing for the project will come from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, Brazil’s state-owned BNDES development bank and Honduran state electric company ENEE.

The Zelaya administration also plans another hydroelectric dam on the PatucaRiver in eastern Honduras, to be built with money from Taiwan.

Zelaya, whose term ends next year, said the three dams will lessen Honduras’ dependence on power from the petroleum-fired plants that currently meet about 57 percent of the country’s electricity demand.