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Overview

[China Co-Financing Fund] IDB administers 17.9 million USD loan from CHC to Difebal S.A. for Melo-Tacuarembo Transmission Line

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$19,047,862
Commitment Year•2017Country of Activity•UruguayDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•UruguaySector•EnergyFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jul 13, 2017
Start (actual)
Apr 1, 2022
End (actual)
Nov 19, 2019

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

Visualizes the AidData-provided feature geometry for this project.

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The Chinese government provided a loan to build a transmission line between Melo and Tacuarembó. More detailed locational information can be found at: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/998457089 and https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/992780102 and https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/998457088 and https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/993454480

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Funding agencies

Government Agencies

  • People's Bank of China (PBC)

Cofinancing agencies

Intergovernmental Organizations

  • Inter-American Development Bank

Receiving agencies

Joint Venture/Special Purpose Vehicles

  • Difebal S.A.

Implementing agencies

Intergovernmental Organizations

  • China Co-Financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (CHC)

Private Sector

  • SACEEM

Loan desecription

[China Co-Financing Fund] IDB administers 17.9 million USD loan from CHC to Difebal S.A. for Melo-Tacuarembo Transmission Line

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

On 13 July 2017, the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC, now IDB Invest), acting on behalf of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, signed a 56 million USD loan contract with Difebal S.A. to finance the Melo-Tacuarembó Transmission Line, through which the IDB would provide 38.1 million USD from its ordinary capital, and the People's Bank of China would provide 17.9 million USD via the China Co-Financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (CHC). The IDB approved this loan financing on 9 May 2017, and IDB Invest refers to this as Project Number 12041-01. The purpose of this project is to construct a 500kV transmission line between the cities of Melo and Tacuarembó in Uruguay. The project will expand the electricity network enabling the integration of renewable energy into the grid. It seeks to strengthen the reliability of the Uruguayan electricity system by accommodating the country’s recent massive shift towards non-conventional renewable energy. The 213 km transmission line will represent approximately 5 percent of today's total transmission network. The project represents the first public-private partnership (PPP) for transmission assets in the country. Italy’s Terna SpA will design, construct and supply the project to UTE, Uruguay's state-run electric utility, which will use and maintain the line under an Operating Lease Agreement. Terna, through special purpose vehicle (SPV) called Difebal S.A., will design and build the transmission line. The SPV hired SACEEM, a Uruguayan construction company, for the design and construction of the high-voltage line. On 19 November 2019 the project was officially inaugurated.