San Antonio Locks Project - Esclusas San Antonio
The project ESCLUSAS SAN ANTONIO® involves the construction of a navigation channel to connect the Salto Grande lake with the Uruguay River, in the city of Salto, avoiding the rocky outcrops (falls) and Salto Grande dam that do not allow river transportation between the lower and medium Uruguay River.
The project, which is under development, was designed to operate on the basis of barges, creating two lakes and two locks to connect the Uruguay River with the Salto Grande lake and give access by river to the Atlantic Ocean, the northeast of Argentina, the southwest of Brazil and the north of Uruguay.
Project scope:
- Logistics node: waterway intersection (created)-railroad tracks-international road
- Reception of loads from Uruguaiana Dry Port (the largest in Latin America)
- Power generation through the implementation of a thermal power plant taking advantage of the fact that Salto Grande dam is an electricity connection node (Uruguay-Argentina-Brazil)
- Irrigation of 37,066 acres (15,000 ha) of Salto's horticultural basin
- Lock for fish, allowing fish migration
- International Free Zone (on the shores of the lakes created)
- Areas for the establishment of logistics companies, shipyards, stockpiles (grains, wood, fuel, mining), loading and unloading, port, etc.
- Tourism, especially nautical
- Protection of the environment
Investment
Investment needed for the production and analysis of the investment project, as well as relationships with actors of the nations involved. The basic investment, at the profile level, will be of about US$ 150 million, but the focus can be extended to make the project more attractive.
Opportunity
There has always existed a need to make the Uruguay River navigable and the last regional governments have promoted infrastructure and development projects, which create an appropriate climate for this project. In turn, international studies show a high level of profitability of this type of project in this area (Consulting project by CARU-SG-European Union, 2004).
Contacts and negotiations with the Uruguayan government have already been made, as well as project presentations to the governing bodies in the respective fields, and they have had an excellent approval rating.
Companies, organizations, etc. are offered a license to build and operate the project as a whole, including the management and benefits of the project, and the development of the different project elements such as tolls, lease areas and free zones, irrigation royalties, power generation, etc.