Lima, Jan 8 (IANS/EFE) Investment in energy projects is projected to total $8.1 billion in Peru this year, bolstering the Andean nation's development and competitiveness, the energy and mines ministry said.
The ministry asked the Private Investment Promotion Agency, or ProInversion, to move ahead with projects worth $7.3 billion, with an additional $800 million in investment expected for rural electrification projects, the Andina news agency reported, citing Energy and Mines Minister Jorge Merino.
"This year we are going to break the record for investment in energy, which is extremely important to guarantee the development of the country because the issue of the energy mix is essential for having competitive costs in mining and other industries," Merino told TV Peru.
ProInversion is working on a southern pipeline, the addition of hydroelectric power plants with 1,100 MW of generating capacity and transmission lines, among other projects, this year, the energy minister said.
"As far as investment committed to transmission, there is a pipeline to bring liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Pisco (in Ica region) to Lurin (in Lima region), thus improving reliability, the price of LPG and the storage capacity of the oil terminals all along the coast," Merino said.
About 50 percent of the projects approved by ProInversion in 2013 were in the energy sector, with investment totalling some $2 billion, Merino said.
"This year we will likely approve projects totalling some $7.3 billion. More than three times what we approved last year," the energy and mines minister said.
--IANS/EFE
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