$500 million Panamanian power line

Panama plans by April to choose the winner among bidders for a contract to build a 500 kilovolt electrical transmission line between Bocas del Toro on the northeast Caribbean Coast and Panama City, a distance of 320 kilometers.

The project, which is scheduled to start operating in 2023, will take three years to build at a cost of close to $500 million.

Bidders include:

° Interconexión Eléctrica, S.A. E.S.P. of Colombia

° China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company Ltd.

° Chiriquí Transmisora de Energía consortium, comprising Algonquin Power of Canada and Spain’s Abengoa

°Transmisión Vasco Núñez de Balboa consortium. comprising two Canadian companies, Northland Power and Manitoba Hydro International, Spain's Control y Montajes Industriales, S.A., and China's TBEA Company Ltd., a privately owned developer of transmission projects.