“I am very happy to announce that we have reached an agreement with the national government to guarantee the safe start of Hidroituango,” were the words of Medellín Mayor Daniel Quintero this Thursday. The local president reported thatThe first two turbines of the plant will not enter the maximum term that it has (November 30) thanks to a negotiation with the government.
This despite the fact that on October 21 the same manager of the company, Jorge Andrés Carrillo, had said that the first turbine would start generating on November 15 and the second on the 20th. In a press conference, Quintero pointed out that EPM will be in charge of doing all the tests so that there is no risk to the communities. Likewise, he said that the entire technical team is working on preparing a circular and that it would be signed this Saturday to carry out preventive evacuations in case of risk.
(Read: Hidroituango: Petro asks to evacuate population before turning on turbines).
the chydroelectric power station must be operating at 25% of its total capacity (2 of the 8 turbines) at the latest on November 30. This, given that it was the date established by the Creg as the latest after EPM won a reliability charge auction, after the 2018 incident.
In the event that the company fails to comply with this commitment, the guarantees could be executed and the reliability charge lost. The first means resources for US$170 million and the second for US$900 million.
Mayor Quintero nor manager Carrillo did not clarify the scope of this agreement or how long these tests will take for the plant to enter.
Portfolio consulted with commissioners of the Energy and Gas Regulation Commission (Creg) if there was a procedure to postpone the delivery date and they explained that so far nothing has been processed in the entity regarding these acquired obligations.
(See: Learn how electronic toll payment works in the country).
Likewise, EPM was requested regarding the procedures related to its energy delivery obligations and the company did not respond to these procedures with the Commission. In this regard, the mayor said that “today we are calmer in relation to the sanctions thanks to the talks with the national government”, ensuring that the priority is to make a safe start of the turbines.
The manager said the tests already done show that it is safe and the progress of the project is 98%, but it is not going to continue until it is certain that it is totally safe.
“We have achieved that there is a recommendation in the circular, which includes the Creg, and states the risks that not extending the times would imply. With that we can ask that the sanctions not be applied. that gives us peace of mind”, he explained and said that this document would be signed this Saturday. Once this is done, the local president expects the changes to take place and November 30 would no longer be the maximum horizon.
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