If the Brazilian consortium confirms its resignation of the Tumarín project, Nicaragua will have start a new process in order to tender the project which is indispensable for the country's development.
The construction of the hydropower station has been surrounded by secrecy and lack of transparency, conflicts of interest, legal and political uncertainty and cases of corruption in the investor's country.
The energy industry has doubts about the continuity of the project, whose feasibility could depend on the results of the corruption case involving its concessionarie Eletrobras.
Entrepreneurs in the energy sector in Nicaragua still have reservations about the feasibility of the Tumarín hydroelectric station construction project which was granted in concession to the consortium composed of Eletrobras and Queiroz Galvao, which are now involved in one of the biggest corruption scandals in Brazil. To date, the only certainty is that "... 'They bought the land, signed the agreements for the sale of energy, but we don't see any tractors removing land' said Cesar Zamora, chairman of the Chamber of Energy of Nicaragua, during a panel in which the energy outlook of the country was discussed. "
The concessionaire Centrales Hidroeléctricas de Nicaragua has denied rumors about the uncertainty surrounding the project and has assured that the work is progressing.
From a statement issued by Centrales Hidroeléctricas de Nicaragua (CHN):
Centrales Hidroeléctricas de Nicaragua (CHN) wishes to inform the public in Nicaragua that Tumarín Hydroelectric Station is a work of vital importance for boosting economic development and gaining a strategic shift of the energy mix in this Central American country. The project envisages the construction process to generate 4,000 direct jobs and up to 3,000 indirect jobs. The project also foresees that Tumarín will have 253 MW of installed capacity and will generate 1.184GWh of energy per year and once it starts operations will be contributing approximately 27% of electricity demanded nationally.
The Ambassador of Brazil has announced that the funds are now available and they will be starting the primary work of the controversial project, which would be ready to operate in February 2019.
Reports state that the delay in the construction of the project occurred because the government had not signed the generation and construction permits. They would have started building camps as a pre-stage to construction of the first phase of the plant.