* Peru’s investment promotion agency, Proinversión, has announced that the contract for the Piura Nueva-Frontera Substation 500 kV Transmission Line project, which will boost electricity interconnection between Peru and Ecuador, will be awarded on 31 July. Four companies are participating in the tender – Spain’s Celeo Redes and Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, Colombia’s Interconexión Eléctrica, and Alúpar Perú, a Peruvian subsidiary of the Brazilian energy company Alúpar. Proinversión announced that the contract will be awarded based on the cost-effectiveness of the companies’ proposals for the operation and maintenance of the transmission line and the substation, which will begin at the Piura Nueva substation and travel 270km to the Ecuadorean border. The construction on the Peruvian side is expected to last until 2027, and the contract covers the 46-month construction period and a 30-year operation and maintenance period starting from the beginning of its commercial opening. The estimated investment for this project is US$223m. According to Proinversión, the project “will provide energy supply security for Peru and Ecuador, increasing reliability and the capacity to transport electricity with efficiency and quality.”