Announcement of World Bank Lends Eighty-Seven Million Dollars to Help Extend Bogota’s Electricity Network on March 17, 1980

FOR IMME_DIATE RELEASE .\Norld Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 80/56 March 17, 1980 WORLD BANK LENDS $87 MILLION TO HELP EXTEND BOGOTA'S ELECTRICITY NETWORK A project to extend and modernize Bogota 1 s electricity distribution network will be supported by a World Bank loan of $87 million. The project is expected to supply electricity to about 157,000 new customers, one third of them low-income urban residents of Colombia's capital. With an estimated total cost of $182.2 million, the project forms part of the 1979-82 investment program of the Empresa de Energfa Electrica de Bogota. It is aimed at the expansion, rehabilitation, and modernization of the urban distribution network in Bogota. The Empresa de Energfa Electrica de Bogota is an autonomous company owned by the municipality of the Special District of Bogota, which has operated the city's electric service for the past 79 years. In 1978, the power company served • 500,000 customers who consumed 3,550 gigawatt-hour (GWh). By 1985, the company's system.is expected to serve an estimated 910,000 customers with a total energy demand of 8,407 GWh a year. The project is aimed not only at providing additional connections to electricity services but also at increasing the coverage of low-income neighbor- hoods and at improving the efficiency and reliability of the overall urban network, particularly in the older sections of the city. The project is expected to provide subtransmission and distribution facilities necessary to supply electricity services to about 157,000 new residential, commercial, and industrial customers over 1980-82. About 35% of these new subscribers are estimated to be in the lower income group. Measures to strengthen the power company's distribution planning, design, operating and maintenance practices are also included in the project. Since 1950, the World Bank has made 22 loans to Colombia's power sector, totalling $682 million. Eighteen loans have assisted the expansion of generating capacity and transmission and distribution facilities in the systems serving Bogota, Medellfn, Cali, Cartagena, and Manizales. This is the first Bank loan exclusively financing power distribution in Colombia. The $87 million loan is the fifth World Bank loan to the Empresa de Energfa Electrica de Bogota and has the guarantee of the Republic of Colombia. It has a term of 17 years, including 3 years of grace, with interest at 8.25% annually . • NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents. FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T E CHN I CA L D A T A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Bogota Power Distribution Colombia $182. 2 mi 11 ion • BANK FINANCING: $87 million for a term of 17 years, including three years of grace, with interest at 8.25% per year. OTHER FINANCING: Empresa de Energfa Electrica de Bogota (EEEB), $95.2 mi 11 ion IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Empresa de Energfa Electrica de Bogota (EEEB) Calle 13 No. 37-35 Apartado Aereo 4453 Bogota, Colombia CABLE: ENERGIA, BOGOTA PROJECT DESCRIPTION: It consists of: (a) subtran.smission: installation of 450 ·megavolt ampere (MVA) substation capacity at 230 kilovolt (kV), 390 MVA at 115 kV and 42 kilometer (km) of lines at 115 kV; (b) distribution: line extensions and improvements at 11.4 kV or 13.2 kV, and 34.5 kV aggregating about 1,330 circuit km; installation of about 630 km and improvements. to about 1,150 km of lines at 120/208 volts (V); installation of about 250 MVA of distribution transformer capacity at 120/208 V and 66 HVA at 480 V; installation of about 3 HVA of voltage regulators and 200 MVAR of capacitors; installation of about 48,000 kilowatt-hour meters; and installation of about 33,000 street lights; and (c) acquisition of about 331 utility vehicles and specialized equipment, and 300 mobile radios for operation and maintenance of the system. PROCUREMENT: All the items to be financed by the loan will be procured by international competitive bidding, under Bank guidelines. Colombian manufacturers will receive a margin of preference of 15% of the c.i.f. price or the applicable import duties, whichever is lower, for purposes of bid evaluation. To avoid delays in project implementation, EEEB will procure through local competitive bidding a small amount of distribution equipment, valued at less than $2 million. CONSULTANTS: About 109 man-months of consultant services for distribution planning, dispatch control center, insurance requirements, and training will be required. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: 12% ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1982 - 0 - •