In a matter of six years of construction, the investment made by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) and the Junta Administradora de Servicios Eléctricos de Cartago (JASEC) in the Toro III hydroelectric project increased by more than $ 90 million.
Toro III is a water-driven hydroelectric power plant located in Venecia de San Carlos and built with an alliance between ICE and JASEC. It has an installed capacity of 46 megawatts (MW), generating 190 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy per year.
When the feasibility study was made in 2006, the investment amount of the project was calculated at $104.1 million. However, in 2012, when it was concluded, the figure reached $ 194.1 million. That is, 87% more than projected.
This was indicated by a report of the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR). The analysis ensures that
the increase is explained by the payment of labor and indirect costs such as food, transportation and lodging for technical staff in the three years of construction.”
In addition, they note that there was delay in the judicial order for the possession of some lands, and extraordinary increases in the prices of steel, cement and fuel used in the construction of the plant also increase the final amount.
Another factor that altered the cost of the work was the redesign of works resulting from the earthquake due to the Vara Blanca-Ángel fault in 2009.
To date, ICE and JASEC have not settled expenses and costs incurred in the preoperative stage of the plant. For example, pre-investment studies cost more than $ 3.3 million and there were also more than 1.2 billion colones in benefits from the energy produced in tests.