The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a $300M loan to improve highway capacity and safety in central Argentina.
Royal Boskalis Westminster has secured a €120M contract for the expansion of the Porto do Açu Oil Transhipment Terminal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Strukton International has secured a contract worth €46M from Metro de Santiago to build five underground stations at the new Line 3 metro line under construction in Santiago, Chile.
Wärtsilä, a Finland-based specialist in flexible power plants, has signed a contract worth €75M to supply a 101MW plant to Pampa Energía in Argentina.
General Electric (GE) has won a turnkey contract worth over $900M from Centrais Elétricas de Sergipe (CELSE) for a combined-cycle power plant in Brazil.
A consortium led by Sacyr Concesiones has been appointed to deliver a $1.47bn road project in Paraguay.
Enel renewable energy subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil Participações (EGPB) has begun construction on the Morro do Chapéu Sul wind farm cluster in Bahia, Brazil.
Enel’s subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil Participações (EGPB) has begun construction of the Horizonte solar plant in Brazil.
A consortium formed by Morelco, a subsidiary of Peruvian construction firm Graña y Montero, has won a $149M contract to deliver the Regional Transmission System located in the Colombian Atlantic Coast.The contract has been awarded by the Mining and Energy Planning Unit (UPME) — an entity of the Ministry of Mines and Energy responsible for the design, supplies procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of the electrical reinforcement of Guajira Province.
KfW IPEX-Bank and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) have agreed to provide a $160M loan for the construction of the Peralta wind farm in Uruguay.The wind farm — located in the municipality of Cuchilla de Peralta in the department of Tacuarembó in central Uruguay — is being built by German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon and will have a total installed capacity of 117.5MW.Peralta will feature 50 Enercon E-92 wind turbines including a hub height of 108m, a rotor diameter of 92m and an output of 2,350kW per turbine. It will produce enough energy to supply around 150,000 Uruguayan households.The power produced in the facility will be sold to the national energy supplier Administración Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Eléctricas (UTE), which signed a power purchase agreement for a period of 20 years. KfW IPEX-Bank management board member Markus Scheer said: “German and European wind technology is in demand internationally. This is a great opportunity — both for manufacturers and the environment. As a bank, we do our part in helping ideas and projects take concrete shape.”
Tecna, a subsidiary of Isolux Corsan, has secured an EPC contract from Argentina’s Comision Nacional de Energia Atómica (CNEA) for the balance of plant of the CAREM 25 nuclear power plant project in Argentina.
Wind and solar energy firm Mainstream Renewable Power has secured contracts from the National Energy Commission of Chile to build and operate seven wind energy plants, worth a total of $1.65bn.
China Horse Club affiliate DSH Caribbean Star has signed an agreement with the government of Saint Lucia to develop a $2.6bn resort and lifestyle complex on the island.The project, named The ‘Pearl of the Caribbean’, will be located on a 700-acre site.It will include a marina, racecourse, resort and shopping mall complex, casino, Free Trade Zone, extensive entertainment and leisure facilities, eco-tourism as well as architecturally-designed villas and apartments.China Horse Club believes that the project is expected to play a lead role in the development of a new horse industry in Saint Lucia. The development, when completed, will accommodate more than 1,000 racehorses and have the capacity to hold racing carnivals.Construction on the development’s initial phase is set to begin in 2017 and create between 500-800 construction jobs.
A consortium led by Eiffage Génie Civil has been awarded a €200M contract by the French government space agency (CNES) for the construction of Ariane 6 ELA 4 launch complex in Guiana.The Ariane 6 programme, approved by European Space Agency (ESA) in 2014, aims to minimise the cost of space launch by half compared to Ariane 5.CNES was handed the responsibility to develop the programme’s ground facilities at the Guiana Space Centre and in February issued an European tender invitation for the construction of the ELA 4 infrastructure, which has now been awarded to Eclair6 consortium.The consortium will be responsible for the construction of all ELA 4 structures, including the launch pad and its two flame trenches, the 6,000t, 90m-high mobile service gantry and the BAL launcher assembly building. The project will require 7,000t of reinforcement, 400,000cb m of earth and 7,500t of structural steel.Construction is set to start immediately and is scheduled to be complete in October 2018, with the first Ariane 6 launch scheduled for late 2020.
MUNA Consortium featuring Aldesa Construcciones and OHL Construcción has secured a contract from The Ministry of Culture of Peru to build an €100M National Archaeology Museum in Peru.The museum will be located at the archaeological area of Pachacámac, in the Lurín district.The 75,000sq m building will accommodate 500,000 pre-Colombian archaeological pieces. It will also have a new Children's Museum, a 450-seat auditorium and conference room, in addition to areas intended for restaurants, services and car parks.Construction work will take approximately two years. Once completed, the National Archaeology Museum will be the biggest in the country and one of the most important in Latin America.
POSCO E&C has started construction on a 380MW combined cycle power (CCPP) plant in Colon, Panama.The project will include the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) CCPP plant, along with an 180,000cb m LNG storage tank to supply fuel at Colon — located near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal — entailing an investment of $650M.The facility, set to be the largest of its kind in Panama, will generate enough electricity to power about 300,000 homes.Upon completion, the power plant will provide a stable supply of electricity to the industrial complex near Panama Canal and the Colon area.POSCO E&C CEO Han Chan-kun said: "The project is the result of efforts to establish trust with the ordering parties in Latin America over the past decade."It will be a great chance for us to showcase the high-quality construction technology of E&C across the world."The power plant will be completed in July 2018 and the LNG tank in May 2019.
Mott MacDonald has been chosen by the Centro American Corporation of Air Navigation Services (COCESNA) to lead a site study, design and masterplan for a new international airport in Costa Rica.The new metropolitan airport — to be located in Orotina, Alajuela — is part of the modernisation and growth of air transport in the country.The scope of the work, conducted by Mott MacDonald, involves technical, environmental and financial advisory and airport development planning — including traffic forecasting, infrastructure layout and terminal design. This is set to take 12 months, after which the consultancy firm will provide COCESNA with the infrastructure plans and associated financial requirements to develop the new airport. Mott MacDonald’s project director Horacio Rossi said: “The new airport will be a significant development for Costa Rica and support economic growth in the region. The additional capacity will enable an increase of international flights, benefitting both export and tourism.“Our experience consulting on Mariscal Sucre International Airport gave us specific expertise in developing new airports on Greenfield sites, as well as relocating a country’s main airport due to existing site expansion constraints. We are delighted to lead an integrated team on this project, which includes FSA, Enroute and Gensler.”The airport is expected to be complete in 2026.
Israel-based infrastructure firm Shikun & Binui has secured financing for the Cundinamarca 010 Toll Road Project in Colombia.The $640M project, part of a multinational plan to improve the country's road infrastructure system, includes the financing, construction, rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of a toll road that will span over nearly 154km.Shikun & Binui's subsidiary SBI, will provide construction services for the project agreed with the Government Infrastructure Authority at the Colombian Ministry of Transportation (ANI). The concession has tenure of 25 years, with an option to extend up to 29 years.Shikun & Binui chairman Moshe Lahmani said: "The financial closing of the project in Colombia is an additional significant milestone in realizing the Group's international strategy to expand its international infrastructure activity, and diversify its global operations."The completion of the financial closings in the USA and now in Colombia will contribute to the Group's record backlog. We will continue to compete for new mega projects in line with our strategic targets."
A consortium led by Astaldi has won a €400M contract from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) for the construction of the dome and telescope structure of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in northern Chile. The consortium, known as the ACe Consortium, also includes Cimolai and the nominated sub-contractor EIE Group.The E-ELT, touted to be the largest optical/near-infrared telescope in the world, will feature a main mirror measuring 39m in diameter. The project is being built in Cerro Armazones, a 3,000m peak about 20km from ESO’s Paranal Observatory. The scope of the contract includes the design, manufacture, transport, construction, on-site assembly and verification of the dome and telescope structure. Astaldi’s chairman Paolo Astaldi said: “This project is truly visionary, both in what it represents for the field of astronomy and for construction and engineering.“Astaldi and our project partners, Cimolai and EIE Group, are extremely proud to have been selected by ESO through their call for tender to help make their vision a reality.“Astaldi is renowned for delivering its best-in-class technical skills, quality construction and strong execution, and we will put the full force of our core strengths behind this project. It is with great excitement that I sign a contract of such astronomical ambition.”
Spanish-based company Acciona Agua has completed construction and announced the opening of the wastewater treatment plant and underwater outlet of La Chira in Lima, Peru.The €97M project will treat the wastewater of about 3M people, representing around one-third of the population of Peru’s capital city.The plant features an advanced system to neutralise bad odours through biological bacterial treatment, reducing the atmospheric pollution created by the traditional use of chemicals in this kind of process. The plant is to be operated under a 25-year concession by a joint venture led by Acciona Agua and Graña y Montero.