BHP manages at least eight bids for Central Kelar and expects to award in next six months
The company is expecting to obtain environmental permits for the plant. Meanwhile, other sides closed: Mejillones LNG regasification capacity and gas supply with an associate
Deliver more competition to a highly concentrated market is one of the BHP Billiton objectives for its Kelar combined gas Plant, which is in the process of environmental assessment.
According to senior sources in the mining Company, the firm expects to award the PBX to a builder and operator within a period of six months. And although the idea is to do with environmental permits approved, it is not a mandatory subject, said nearby. “We can do anything we want with the project,” they said.
BHP’s bid for Kelar-capacity of 540 MW and an investment of about $ 400 million-responds to that “is good for the country”, said nearby the mining company. For this reason, the company is committed to taking it forward. For that, in September last year reached an agreement with Mejillones LNG for the use of the terminal to ensure the regasification of LNG.
In the case of gas supply, it would be committed to one of the group’s subsidiaries: BHP Billiton Petroleum, so that this edge would also be resolved. In any case, other sources of the industry ensure that the mining Company would be looking equally supply in the international market.
The firm’s plan is to have the plant operational in 2016, seeking to deliver supplies to its expansion projects. However, nearby say that if this were to stop, just as the 2016 lease expires you have with Norgener-AES Gener-by 252 MW, so that they could ensure that they will purchase that energy.
Interested
The Kelar bidding process is taking about a year and, according to experts, there are about eight interested competing. In any case, among the bidders not present companies exist in Chile, as the company’s desire would be to enter a new operator to a highly concentrated market.
Just yesterday, Peter Beaven, BHP Billiton Copper’s President, said at the launch of the 2012 Sustainability Report that “we believe it is necessary that new competitors entering the market (generation) and the matrix be diversified not to rely on coal.”
According to sources in the process, most of the participants are Australian, Japanese and Korean Companies, among them Samsung, Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea Southern Power. In addition, there were other multinational looking to enter the market, such as the British Independent Power Corporation.
Interested in seawater
On other issues, BHP has a desalination plant in Coloso but Beaven said it is not enough. The executive said that deepening think desalinated water use, even if it means an “increase in costs and carbon footprint by having to transport it from the sea, up to 3,100 meters high,” he said, adding that “we are looking to expand the capacity of 500 liters per second of our existing plant in Coloso “.
BHP reaffirmed its investment plan in Chile to 2015 is U.S. $ 5,000 million and indicated that they already have a 60% advance in the dynamic leach pad Escondida (for a total investment of U.S. $ 414 million for BHP) , and 30% completion of the Escondida expansion (of a total investment of U.S. $ 2,200 million regarding BHP).
Source: Diario Financiero
