The Comision Ejecutiva Hidroeléctrica del Río Lempa (CEL) stated that this project will be developed under the BOT system ("build, operate and transfer").

It is a form of financing through which private entities receive a concession from the public sector to finance, design, build and operate an infrastructure during a certain period of time. When the term ends, the project returns to the institution or government that granted the concession.

Source: elsalvador.com

More on this topic

El Salvador Suspends El Cimarrón Project

January 2010

President Mauricio Funes stated that proposed Hydroelectric Power Plant "El Cimarrón" will not be built under its current design.

Funes explained that if the plant was to be built using the current design, it would cause negative environmental and social effects.

The executive has requested the project to be redesigned, with Funes stating: "'we will decide if we move on with the project based only on the new design ...

$800 Million for Salvadoran Hydroelectric

June 2009

The Government of South Korea pledged $800 million to finance El Cimarrón hydroelectric dam.

The chairman of the Executive Committee of the Lempa River Hydroelectric (CEL), Nicolás Salume, announced that a study will be done regarding the financing structure offered since there are other countries interested in investing such as Mexico, Italy, Spain and Brazil.

Works on the Central Hydroelectric plant begin in El Salvador

September 2008

President Elias Antonio Saca will place the first stone for the El Chaparral central hydroelectric plant that will mark the formal start of construction.

The initial investment, estimated to be $163 million, will be financed by the Central American Bank for Economic Intergration, as was recently confirmed by the president of the Rio Lempa Hydroelectric Executive Commission (CEL), Nicolas Salume.

Hydroelectric plant in El Salvador will cost $1.1 billion

August 2008

The estimate investment to build the El Cimarron hydroelectric dam has increased to $1.1 billion.

The president of the Rio Lempa Hydroelectric Executive Commission (CEL), Nicolás Salume, indicated that the increase in costs is because the project has been in planning for more than 10 years and that, because construction materials are now more expensive, the initial investment (which was at $450 million) has now tripled.