Announcement of Cospique Power Loan in Colombia on July 16, 1963

WOIILD • INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMEI\-JT i"-\ 181 8 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON 25, D. C. l"ELEFHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 ,i-'----------------------------------1 Bank Press Release No. 63/ ]ti Subject: Cospique Power Loan July 16, 1963 in Colombia The World Bank today made a loan equivalent to $5 million for an expansion of the electric power system serving the city of Cartagena, an important seaport and commercial center in northern Colombia. The loan will help to finance the installa- tion of an additional 25,000 kilowatts of capacity at the existing Cospique thermal plant and the rehabilitation and expansion of transmission and di.stribution facili- ties. The additional power will more than double the generating capacity of the system serving the Cartagena area • • Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust CompanJS and First Western Bank and Trust Company, Los Angeles, will participate in the loan, without the World Bank's guarantee, to the extent of $140,000 representing the first maturity and part of the second maturity which fall due in Novembe~ 1966 and May 1967. The loan was made to Electrificadora de Bolivar S.A. (Electribol), one of the 15 subsidiaries of the Institu:to de Aprovechamiento de Aguas y Fomento Electrico, an autonomous government agency responsible for the dev~lopment of water resources and electric power. Electribol's area of responsibility is the Department of Boli- var. The city of Carte.gena constitutes Electribol 's principal power market: more than 95% of its power sales are made in bulk. to Empresas Publica~ Municipa.les de .Qa.rtagena, a municipal agency which distributes p9wer in the city. The rest of the J. ·.C· ·~ower is sold by Electribol to small communities in the northern pa.rt of Bolivar. Electric power sales in the Cartagena a.rea have increased by more than ll~ annually in the past six years. More power is needed to accommodate the requiremeofk  - 2 - of the population, now.164,ooo and growing at the rate of 3-1/'21/o a year, and of neu • industries. The three largest consumers which will need. substantial supplies of power later t:'lis yea.'t" a.t·e new fertilizer and cement plants and the mun1.cipal water pumping plant ·which is being expanded. Electribol 's present generating facilities consist of the 10,000-kilo.watt Cos~ pique thermal power plant, which it owns and operates, and the ll,650-kilowatt Manga steam plant which it leases from Empresas. With the assistance of today's loan \' Electribol will install two additional uni~s with a combined capacity of 25,000 kilowatts at the Cospiq,1e plant. It will also expand its transmission ~d distri- "'::>ution facilities, and relend $46o,ooo to Empresas fe>r tb,e expansion and. improve- ment of distribution facilities in the city of Cartagena. The project should be completed by late 1965 and should take ca.re of Electribol' s power requirements • until 1970. When the new u..11its are in operation, ..Electribol will have some stand- "by capacity. This is of particular importance because Electribol catmot draw on other power sources since there are no connections between the Cartagena area trans- mission system and that of any other metropolitan area. The loan is for a term of 20 yea.rs and bears interest of 5-1/'2!/o per annum including the 1% commission which is allocated to the Bank's Special Reserve. Amortization will begin in November 1966. The loan was guaranteed by the Govern- ment of Colombia. Including today's loan the Bank has now ~ade 24 loans totaling $344 million in Colombia, for the development of electric power, rail and. road transportation, e~ansion of steel-making facilities and agriculture. •