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Saturday, January 9, 2010
Today's News Headlines
* Biogas Technology to invest US$35mn in waste-to-energy projects - Mexico
* Atotonilco construction to begin by end-Q1 - Mexico
* Ministry signs agreement for US$19.6mn Huamanga drainage project - Peru
* ArcelorMittal Tubarão sells 1.92Mt of residues in 2009 - Brazil
* Govt, Bandes approve US$380mn in capital to CAF - Venezuela
* Agua de Manizales looks to expand operations - Colombia, Peru
* Managua spends US$7.7mn/year on waste collection - Nicaragua
* Multipurpose Chone to be re-launched for tender with US$210mn price-tag - Ecuador
* IN BRIEF MOP cleans drainage systems to prevent floods - Panama
* IN BRIEF Jorge León named ProInversión head - Peru
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* Biogas Technology to invest US$35mn in waste-to-energy projects - Mexico
UK-based firm Biogas Technology will invest up to US$35mn in waste-to-energy projects in Mexico over the next five years, the company's project development manager for Latin America, Francisco Blanco, told BNamericas.
"We believe there is potential for dozens of sites to become [clean development mechanisms] CDMs at the moment, and we will continue to invest to bring these potential projects to fruition," Blanco said.
While the company had originally planned to develop 23 CDM projects throughout Mexico by 2011, bureaucracy and inefficiency at a municipal level will make that goal difficult to reach, according to Blanco.
"Municipalities have their own agendas which means that often any benefit that does not fall within their 3-year term is of no interest to them," said Blanco.
At the same time, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) must relax its requirements for small-scale projects in order to encourage more waste-to-energy initiatives in Mexico, according to the executive.
"The costs involved in registering a project and keeping it verified are very high, which means a certain scale of project is just not feasible," Blanco said.
Biogas Technology currently operates waste-to-energy projects in Ecatepec and Tultitlán, both in Mexico state, as well as in Chile, Peru and Brazil.
By Catherine Setterfield
Business News Americas
* Atotonilco construction to begin by end-Q1 - Mexico
Construction of the US$710mn Atotonilco wastewater treatment plant in Mexico's Hidalgo state is scheduled to begin by end-Q1, national water authority Conagua spokesperson Karen López told BNamericas.
"They need to move all the machinery and equipment to the site, so we're talking about construction beginning in one or two months' time," López said.
At a ceremony in Mexico City earlier this week, Conagua signed a contract with the consortium that was awarded the contract to build the plant, the authority reported in a release.
Conagua head José Luis Luege Tamargo, environment minister Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, infrastructure developer IDEAL, shareholder and tycoon Carlos Slim, Atlatec head Alejandro Garza Ruzafa, Luis Castilla of Acciona Agua and José Luis Guerrero Alvarez of construction firm ICA attended the ceremony.
Local firm Desarrollo y Construcciones Urbanas (Dycusa) and Green Gas Pioneer Crossing Energy, a subsidiary of US firm Green Gas, also form part of the consortium that will be responsible for operating the plant for the next 22 years.
With an initial capacity to treat 23m3/s of wastewater, Atotonilco's construction represents a major step towards improving the historically low wastewater treatment coverage in the Mexico valley metropolitan area, Luege Tamargo said at the ceremony.
The plant is expected to treat 60% of wastewater produced in the area, which currently has one of the lowest coverage levels in the country, at 11.6%.
By Catherine Setterfield
Business News Americas
* Ministry signs agreement for US$19.6mn Huamanga drainage project - Peru
Peru's housing and sanitation ministry has signed an agreement to carry out improvements to rainwater drainage systems in areas of Ayacucho region's Huamanga province that were affected by a landslide on December 16.
The project will cost 56mn soles (US$19.6mn) and is expected to help prevent similar disasters from occurring in the future, according to government news service Andina.
The ministry also signed an agreement with Ayacucho sanitation authority Epsasa to carry out improvements to potable water, sewerage and wastewater treatment systems in the Huscahuara and Mollepata neighborhoods of Ayacucho city.
The works will cost 22mn soles, and will be carried out under the government's Agua Para Todos (water for everyone) program.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* ArcelorMittal Tubarão sells 1.92Mt of residues in 2009 - Brazil
Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal's (NYSE: MT) Tubarão unit in Brazil sold 1.92Mt of steel by-products in 2009 with revenues amounting to 107mn reais (US$61.5mn), the company said in a statement.
Blast furnace slag accounted for 30% of the total by volume. In 2010, Tubarão is expecting sales to reach 2.3Mt and is estimating revenues of 148mn reais.
The company says the electric power sector will be responsible for 49% of by-product revenues in 2010 followed by the cement and highway construction sector with 28%. Tubarão also sells by-products to the cryogenic gas sector, carbochemical and concrete manufacturers, railroads, makers of pre-molded products and ceramics, steelmills and the agricultural sector.
Located in Espírito Santo state, ArcelorMittal Tubarão generates 500,000t of residues for every 1Mt of steel produced.
"At Tubarão, slightly over 98% of residues are reused, well above the sector's average of 80%," the company said. "Currently, 5% of residues are reused for environmental purposes, 23% used internally and 70% are sold."
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Govt, Bandes approve US$380mn in capital to CAF - Venezuela
The Venezuelan government and state-owned development bank Bandes have signed two agreements to provide a total of US$380mn in capital to the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), to be paid until 2017, the multilateral said in a release.
The funds are part of the 7-year US$2.5bn paid-in capital increase for CAF approved by its board in August.
CAF predicts it will approve US$1bn in loans for Venezuelan projects in 2010, in the electric, public transport, social infrastructure and other sectors, and expects to disburse US$1.1bn over the next couple of years for projects already underway in the country.
The multilateral has approved nearly US$3bn in lending for projects in Venezuela in the past three years.
Caracas-based CAF has 16 shareholder countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, plus Spain and Portugal.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Agua de Manizales looks to expand operations - Colombia, Peru
As part of its plans to expand internationally, Colombian water utility Agua de Manizales is analyzing the design, construction and operation of water systems in several Peruvian municipalities, local paper Portafolio reported.
The mayor of Manizales, Juan Manuel Llano, met with Peruvian President Alan García in August of last year to discuss possible development projects for the utility and state-owned Gestión Energética in Peru.
The utility also plans to implement programs with simple infrastructure to supply water to low-income families, the report said.
Agua de Manizales operates in Manizales city located in Colombia's southwestern Caldas department and is responsible for water supply and sanitation, as well as the final disposal of wastewater.
The company has also participated in departmental water plans in Cesar and Magdalena.
In January-November 2009 the authority reported 52.1mn pesos (US$26.5mn) in net sales and 4.97mn pesos in net utilities.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Managua spends US$7.7mn/year on waste collection - Nicaragua
Nicaragua's capital city Managua currently spends some 160mn córdobas (US$7.7mn) per year in waste collection, local paper La Prensa reported.
However, local government officially reports an 80mn-córdoba cost. The discrepancy can be explained by the cost of street cleaning and additional activities that need to be carried out by the authority, the report said.
City hall expects to collect some 34mn córdobas in waste collection taxes from its inhabitants in 2010 according to the budget established for this year, which is not even 25% of the total amount needed.
Some 160t of garbage is collected daily in Managua.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Multipurpose Chone to be re-launched for tender with US$210mn price-tag - Ecuador
Ecuadorean Manabí province's multipurpose Chone project will be re-launched for tender after the original process was declared void this week, local press reported.
Chone was launched for tender last September and was awarded to the firm Tiesiju-Chone which then had to look for financing.
Director of the local branch of national water regulator Senagua Xavier Valencia said the financing deal with the Bank of China could not be closed.
The project had an official price tag of US$195mn but this has been raised to US$211mn, according to Valencia.
A new tender will be launched next week and the project is expected to be awarded in May, reports said.
First phase works will cost US$50mn and include building a dam on the Grande river. The government will provide a US$13mn subsidy for this stage.
The second phase involves the construction of an irrigation system. The project is also designed to prevent floods and supply potable water.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* IN BRIEF MOP cleans drainage systems to prevent floods - Panama
Panama's public work ministry (MOP) has started a program to clean up capital Panama City's rainwater drainage systems, sewerage systems and gutters, the government reported in a release.
The removal of sediment and garbage has already been carried out on Colombia avenue and 43rd street, and the ministry will carry out similar actions throughout the city.
The program aims to prevent floods during the rainy season and protect asphalt paving.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* IN BRIEF Jorge León named ProInversión head - Peru
Peru's former state penitentiary head Jorge Alejandro León Ballén has been named executive director of private investment promotion agency ProInversión, state news agency Andina reported.
León will replace production minister José Nicanor González Quijano, who has been acting as interim director since Cayetana Aljovín resigned last month.
Aljovín, who was criticized for alleged irregularities in the concession of Paita port and the delay of the concession of the Taboada wastewater treatment plant, will now present weekly TV show Panorama.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
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In-deph interview
* "There is potential for dozens of sites to become CDMs at the moment"
Francisco Blanco
Latin America CDM project development manager
Biogas Technology
Mexico
http://www.bnamericas.com/interviews/waterandwaste/Francisco_Blanco_,Biogas_Technology,/169252630
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Main companies covered in today's news
* Banco Nacional de Obras y Servicios Públicos S.N.C.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Banco_Nacional_de_Obras_y_Servicios_Publicos_S,N,C,-BANOBRAS/169252630
* Volcán Compañía Minera S.A.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Volcan_Compania_Minera_S,A,A,-Volcan/169252630
* Secretaría Nacional del Agua
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Secretaria_Nacional_del_Agua-SENAGUA/169252630
* Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo en América Latina S.A.B. de C.V.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Impulsora_del_Desarrollo_y_el_Empleo_en_America_Latina_S,A,B,_de_C,V,-IDEAL/169252630
* Acciona Agua S.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Acciona_Agua_S,A,-ACCIONA_Agua/169252630
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