IDB approves loan for Bolivia's Misicuni HEP project

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved loans totalling US$ 106 for Bolivia's Misicuni hydroelectric power (HEP) project

Misicuni HEP project, part of the Misicuni Multiple Project (MMP), will increase availability of drinking water and irrigation for the Cochabamba Valley while generating 80 MW of electricity for Bolivia's National Interconnected System.

The Cochabamba region has been increasingly suffering from a scarcity of water and Bolivia needs to expand its electricity generation capacity to meet growing demand.

An IDB loan of US$ 101 million will be used to build the hydroelectric component of the MiMP, including electric power transmission lines and related works, which will contribute up to 80 MW of power to the national grid.

Construction of the dam on the Misicuni River, which began in June 2009, is expected to cost US$ 85 million and is being financed by the Government of Italy, the Prefecture of Cochabamba, Bolivia's National Treasury, and the Andean Development Corporation.

An additional US$ 5 million in IDB financing will be used to finance the Misicuni Watershed Environmental Management, which is designed to "supplement and strengthen measures to mitigate the indirect impacts of the Misicuni Project on the environment and population in the main dam's watershed," according to an IDB statement.