Hidroprado Hydroelectric Plant

active

In July 20007, Union Fenosa SA [Spain] through its subsidiary EPSA, acquired 87% of the shares of Central Hidraulico de Rio Prado (Hidroprado), a 52 MW hydroelectric plant located in Prado, western Colombia for US $55 million. The facility was previously run by the state-owned company Gestion Energetica (Gensa) and was built in 1973. The remaining 13% of shares were to be reserved for the local authorities of the Tolima department where the plant was located. The shares of Central Hidraulico de Rio Prado were divested in a privatization auction in Bogata. Seven consortia were pre-qualified to submit bids. After the first round, five bidder remained in teh tender. Consorcio Energia del Centro, Hidroprado, Promesa Sociedad Futura Inversiones Central Hidroelectrica el Condor, Promesa de Sociedad Futura Generadora del Sur and Epsa. Union Fenosa won the tender by presenting the highest offer out of the seven international bidders at US 106 billion pesos (US $51 million). This was much higher than the reserve price set by the government of 65 billion pesos (US $31.2 million). The acquisition of the Hidroprado facility increased EPSA’s total capacity to 952 MW. Union Fenosa has planned to spend approximately 109 billion pesos (US $52.4 million) to increase the generation capacity of the facility by 10%. Figures converted from Colombian Pesos to USD using the period average, market rate for 2007 published by the IMF.