Buenos Aires – Germany’s Siemens was chosen Tuesday to build two electricity plants in Argentina, officials in the Planning Ministry here confirmed to EFE.
The firm won the bid to construct the plants in the town of Timbues, in Santa Fe province, and in the city of Campana, in Buenos Aires province.
The new generating facilities, which will require an investment of $809 million, will add 1.6 gigawatts to the Argentine electricity grid starting in mid-2008.
Siemens, who competed in the bidding with France’s Alstom, Japan’s Mitsubishi and U.S. technology and services giant General Electric, will design, build and get the plants up and running.
The two facilities will be the first of their kind to be constructed in Argentina since 2001.
The Campana and Timbues plants will be operated, respectively, by groups headed by Spain’s Endesa and France’s Total.
The plans are for the plants to begin operating in December 2007 and reach their full power generation camacity in about June 2008.
In recent years, Argentina’s demand for electricity has grown at 7 percent per year, and thus the construction of the two new plants is a key element in guaranteeing that supply keeps pace.
