Member Article

The Federal Electricity Commission (the “Commission”) will put out for public bidding the construction and operation of a hydroelectric plant named “La Yesca.” The plant will be located 65 kilometers from the El Cajon Dam, between the boundaries of the states of Nayarit and Jalisco. It will have a capacity to generate 750 megawatts and a cost of 850 million dollars and will be constructed under a public-private partnership regime by which the company winning the bid will make the entire investment required to build and operate the plant and will, in turn, receive annual payments from the Commission. It is expected that the plant will start operations in 2011. The plant will be the tallest of its kind in the world, with a height of 210 meters, and will have a capacity to use 12 million cubic meters of natural gas per year. The bases of the public bidding will be published on March 15, 2006 and it is expected that the project award will be issued on August 2006. The plant will be complementary to the “La Parota” hydroelectric project located in Guerrero whose investment is expected to be from 800 to 900 million dollars. The invitation to bid on this project has not yet been published since not all of the communal land owners [ejidatarios] whose land would be used have approved the project. As well, the proposed plant will complement the “El Cajon” hydroelectric project in the process of being constructed in Nayarit. This plant has a capacity of 1228 GW per hour and is expected to start operating at the end of this year. As soon as the bases of the public bid related to the La Yesca plant are published, we will let you know. If you need further information, do not hesitate to contact the lawyers of the area. Daniel A. Del Río [email protected] or Juan Carlos Serra [email protected].