ACCIONA is awarded two sections of the new line 3 of the Santiago de Chile metro for 77 million euros

The contract covers the construction of 6.7 kilometers of tunnels and accesses to installations for the stations of Cola de Maniobras, Estación Terminal Norte, Estación Cardenal Caro, Vivaceta, Conchalí and Plaza Chacabuco.

The project's completion is planned for the end of next year. It will mean the creation of over 1,600 jobs at times of peak activity, with an average of more than 900 people employed during the works.

Line 3 has a total length of 22 kilometers and crosses the historic center of the Chilean capital. It has 18 stations and will serve over 660,000 people.

One of the key elements in the award of this contract is ACCIONA's experience and track record in building Metro networks and tunnels in complex environments, both from the engineering and the environmental and social points of view.

The company has played a major role in the development of the Metro networks in Madrid, San Juan de Puerto Rico and Medellin. It is currently working on the construction of the first phase of the line 1 of the Quito Metro (Ecuador) and the East Line in Fortaleza (Brazil). Among the major tunneling work it has carried out, we would highlight the underground routing of the M-30 ring motorway in Madrid and the Legacy Way tunnel in Australia, both located inside cities, the tunnel for the particle accelerator of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between France and Switzerland and the high-speed train accesses in Bologna (Italy).

ACCIONA in Chile

ACCIONA has been present for more than twenty years in Chile, a country that has become one of its strategic markets. In the area of Concessions, it operates Ruta 160, a 91-kilometer-long highway in the southern region of Bio-Bio, and built and operated the Vespucio Sur and Red Litoral Central highway networks for several years before selling them on in 2011. In the water sector, ACCIONA designed and built the first desalination plant for the Chilean mining industry − the CAP unit in the Valley of Copiapó (Atacama Desert) −, which it will operate for the next 20 years. The start-up of this project has great significance as a solution to water supplies, because the Atacama desert is one of the most arid places on the planet. The company has also built four wastewater treatment plants − Valdivia, Osorno, La Ligua and Temuco − with a combined capacity of 228,000 cubic meters per day.

ACCIONA Energía is building its first wind farm in Chile − Punta Palmeras (45 MW) − after winning a long-term supply contract in a tender by the electric power company Colbún. It will produce enough clean energy to cover the demand of around 60,000 Chilean households, avoiding the emission of 119.000 metric tons of C02 from conventional coal-fired power stations and the import of around 215,000 barrels of oil to generate the same level of energy. In previous years, ACCIONA Windpower had already supplied 1.5 MW turbines for the Canela II wind farm (60 MW), which is owned by third parties. The company has other wind power projects under way in the country, plus an extensive portfolio of thermal solar and photovoltaic plants, either owned by ACCIONA or built for other customers.