Announcement of Twelve Million Three Hundred Thousand US Dollars Loan to Honduras for Power on June 29, 1972

INTERNATIO.NAL BANK FOR • RECONSTRUCTION AND .DEVELOPMENT 1818 H STREET. N.W .. WASHINGTON o. c. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Bank Press Release No. 72/~ Subject: $12. 3 million loan to Honduras June 29, 19 72 for power The World Bank has approved a $12.3 million eq\livalent loan to Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica (EHEE) of Honduras to finance a power project for transmission and generating equipment. The project is the first step in the coordinated development program of the Honduran and Nicaraguan power sectors based on interconnection, and -- in the longer ~1 - - in the integrated power development of the whole CA!nt ral American region. The Bank Group has been associated with the development of the Honduran power sector since 1959. It assisted in building ENEE, a goverument-~ed enterprise which supplies 85% of total electricity ,available for public con- sumption, with four Bank loam and two credits from the International Develop- • ment Association, an affiliate of the World Bank, totaling $32.8 million • Public electrical services in ijonduras are being expanded in order to meet the increasing demand of agriculture and industry. Generation doubled in the past five years, but electricity is still available on.ly in a few parts of the country. Besides helpiµg to meet the )rapidly growi11g domestic demand for energy in rural and urban areas, the project includes the Honduran portion. ,ef the interconnection between the power systems of Honduras and Nicaragua. The project consit,ts of. installation o.£ four· 6,000-kilowatt diesel genera- ting units at La Ceiba; construction of a 93 miles, 230-kilovolt trm1smission line from tie capital city, Tegucigalpa, \to a growing center in the south, Ctoluteca, and then to the Nicaraguan border, and subs·tation equipment at Tegucigalpa and Choluteca; construction of another 178.miles of transmission and subtransmission lines and installation of substations to s~rve new areas; feasibility studies and training programs. The total cost of the project is estimated at $16.0 mill.1,on equivalent; -the $12.3 million loan will cover the foreign exchange co;1t. l,\. The loan, with the guarante~- of the Republic of Iion~utas, will be for a term of 24 years, including ,a four-year grace period, at an interest rate of 7!-a per annum. - 0 -  • June 29, 19 72 TECHNICAL DATA PROJECT: Power development COUNTRY: Honduras TOTAL COST : $16 • 0 milU:on BANK FINANCING: $12.3 million, 24 yearsi 4 years of grace, 7~ interest per anm.nn. OTHER PINANCING: Intemally generated funds. IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATI<l.'1: Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrica, Apartado 99, Tegucigalpa, D.C., Honduras. PROJECT DESC"1UPTIOi~: Ins tall at ion of four 6-megawatt diesel generating units at La Ceiba; construction of 93 miles of .a 230-kilovolt transmission line from Tegucigalpa · to Choluteca and then to the Nicaraguan border, and substation equipment at Tegucigalpa (Suyapa) and Choluteca (Pavana); • construction of 85 miles of power transmission and subtransmission lines, and substations in the Aguan Valley; construction of about 93 miles of subtransmission lines and installation of substations in new areas; studies of hydroelectric power projects and a training program, for ENEE's staff. PROCUREMENT: Contracts will be awarded after intemational competitive biddiq. Four 6-megawatt diesel units and associated transformer and control and switching equipment; transmission and subtransmission lines and sub- stations. Procur•~nt of the four 6-megawatt diesel units and associated transformers, control and switching equipment has been substantially completed. · OONSULTANT SERVICES: Consultants already engaged for completion of feasibility study of the El C&jon Hydroelectric Project (Motor Columbus, Switzerland) and selected for engineering design and supervision of construction for tl1e interconnection line from Tegucigalpa to Nicaraguan border (Electroconsult, Italy). Consult~ts will b~ engaged to prepare preliminary hydroele,ctric survey of eastern Honduras and hydroelectric • projects on the Jicatuyo River. ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE~'· December 1975. - 0 -