The Ministry of Energy and Mines of Perus has signed concession contracts for three high voltage power lines with Cobra’s affiliate La Niña SAC, with the objective of strengthening electricity supply in the departments of Tumbes, Piura, Huánuco and Ucayali. As part of the agreement, the company will build and operate the 500 kV La Niña-Piura line (87 km) in northern Peru, a section of the first 500 kV interconnection with Ecuador, which will be extended with the Piura Nueva - Frontera line; ProInversion will tender the concession for this new section in the next few months. In addition, Cobra will build two 220 kV lines, the 158 km long Pariñas-New Tumbes line and the 73 km long Tingo María-Aguaytía line. Projects also include substations and associated expansions. Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios was awarded the projects in October 2019, after pledging an investment of US$91m. The total operation and maintenance cost of the three lines is forecast to reach US$4m/year.
In 2017, Peru set a target of 100% rural electrification by 2021, requiring new transmission lines. In November 2019, the country also announced an intermediary target for 2020 of 86% of rural electrification. The government estimates that investment should reach US$1,048m for this purpose and projects will benefit 2.9 million Peruvians.