Panama’s Esti hydropower plant was inaugurated by the Panamanian President, Mireya Moscoso, at the end of last year. The US$250M, 120MW plant was constructed by Skanska and involved drilling and blasting a 65m2, 4.8km long headrace tunnel through weathered volcanic tuffs (T&TI, Sept, p30). The power plant’s output should reduce the cost of electricity in Panama, which has some of the highest prices in South America.
