“The first excavations began for the first bases of the towers. The work involves 900 high-voltage towers”stated to The Observer the president of UTE, Silvia Emaldi. The state-owned China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) is currently building the closure of the northern transmission ring, a 500 kV line that will link Tacuarembo with Salto.
It is a millionaire and key investment for the national interconnection system that is expected to be operational in January 2025, and that will also use the new UPM pulp mill in Pueblo Centenario to evacuate the energy it will produce.
The president of UTE explained that currently it is in the “verification, testing and validation” stage by the entity of all the construction elements that make up the first bases. Part of the machinery used for the works had already arrived in the country weeks ago, and now the first supplies have begun to arrive, such as transformers and other parts necessary for the assemblies that will begin in the coming months.
The project will be developed through a financial trust constituted by a joint venture, with República Afisa as trustee, and has a total cost of about US$207 million. The initial schedule contemplated almost three years of work until the beginning of 2025, but for different reasons it had to be adjusted.
For example, the trust registration and authorization process took longer than expected, which was finally issued last May. There were also delays by the CMEC company in freight that transported machinery and the first materials that come entirely from China. In that country, until recently, there were cities that remained closed and with severe mobility restrictions due to covid-19. That even delayed the arrival of technical personnel from the company.
“We had to adjust the start in about four months. With the forecasts that are being made, we hope to arrive on time for the contract with UPM, which is January 2025”, Emaldi said.
The work of the ring
The high voltage line is made up of two sections: one that will go from Tacuarembo and will go down to Chamberlain near Paso de los Toros; and another section between Chamberlain and Salto Grande. Its route will cover a distance of approximately 365 kilometers.
The two sections will be connected through the station to be built in that town of Tacuarembó. Likewise, lines will be connected to the Chamberlain substation that will allow the link with the new UPM plant, which in addition to producing cellulose, will generate renewable energy and will inject part of what is generated into the National Electric System as of 2025.
Also included are two 150 kV lines that will connect the Chamberlain station with the existing lines between Rincón del Bonete and the Palmatir Wind Farm. The project complements the transmission line that already exists between Melo and Tacuarembó.
Emaldi explained that in some sections of “rockier soils” the use of explosives is planned to be able to place the bases of the towers. This required the processing of authorizations before the mayors of the area and the Ministry of Environment.
The monitoring of the schedule is carried out on a monthly basis by UTE and CMEC in face-to-face meetings and via zoom. The official launch of the works will take place on October 7 in the town of Morató in the department of Paysandú.
local workforce
It will be the largest infrastructure work carried out in the country by a Chinese company to date.
When the project was awarded in 2021 after the international tender, the local companies that had participated in the call raised doubts. One of the points that drew attention was the prices handled by the winner, and especially the amount declared by the Chinese state company by law 14,411 of social contributions to construction. At that time, the calculation made by the Chamber of Construction was that with the amount managed, half of the labor necessary to build the high transmission line was paid.
The current contract establishes that 80% of the labor used is of national origin. The work will employ around 1,000 people. If the local labor requirement is not met, “high” penalties are expected on the contract price, Emaldi had told The Observer in June of last year.
“They will have all the monitoring and all the view of what are the social laws associated with the people who will be working. What analysis did the Chinese company do? I don’t know, but in all instances we made them see that point (social laws) and they said that they had everything under control and that they were going to comply with everything that is planned and what the contract establishes, “said the president of UTE.
