Elecnor and ACS compete against each other to win one of Australia's largest electrical projects. The infrastructure group and the construction company of Florentino Pérez have entered the second and final phase (shortlist) of the tender tendered by TransGrid for the construction of 900 kilometers of high-voltage power lines and substations between Robertstown, in South Australia, and Wagga Wagga, in New South Wales (NWS), for more than 1.2 billion Australian dollars (742 million euros at the current exchange rate).
The New South Wales power company expects energy transport lines to begin construction in 2021 and be operational in 2023 as late, so the final award will be made in the coming months, when final permits are received. At that time, TransGrid will decide if Elecnor takes the contract, which has been presented in consortium with the local company Seymour Whyte, Cimic (ACS) or Quanta Power Australia, the third company included in the shortlist.
For now, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) on Friday approved the economic viability of the project driven in partnership with ElectraNet, the power company in South Australia (the total plan is valued at more than 1.5 billion Australian dollars -a few 942 million euros-). That is to say, it has recognized that the promoters can recover the cost of the investment and that the proposal is the most beneficial for the citizens. Not surprisingly, TransGrid says that the high-voltage line will allow energy sharing between the two regions, which will reduce the domestic electricity rate by about 66 Australian dollars a year.
“With ElectraNet, TransGrid is committed to delivering the project at the lowest possible cost with the greatest benefit to consumers, as it will reduce the cost of wholesale energy and boost renewables,” said TransGrid CEO Paul Italiano , in a note published on its website.
The project will start in 2021 and is scheduled to end in 2023
Thus, it is expected that the construction of the high voltage line will unlock up to 30 wind and solar projects for a total of 5.3 GW planned for South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. In turn, the project will involve the creation of 800 local jobs during construction and 700 jobs during the exploitation period.
Lights and shadows in Australia
Elecnor is very active in Australia, where it is bidding for several projects, although the last major contract won it in 2017, when it was made with the construction of the largest photovoltaic park in the southern country at that time by 133 million. In recent years, what he has done is to build many photovoltaic farms on that continent.
For its part, ACS, which is presented through the construction companies CPB and UGL, of its subsidiary Cimic, has received good and bad news from Australia in recent weeks. On the one hand, mining contracts in the country have been awarded for about 111 million euros and another railway for 546 million euros, while, on the other, it has had to point losses of 400 million euros after withdrawing its Cimic subsidiary financial support to its investee in the Middle East, BICC. Thus, Cimic will provide all the risks incurred with the company, which will lead ACS to earn less than 1,000 million.
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