The trip from the city of Cusco to Acchahuata, Calca province, lasts four hours by bus. You climb a winding road that climbs the Andes to more than 4,400 meters above sea level. From those heights, where oxygen is scarce, the community is appreciated: stone houses, potato fields, alpaca breeders and huge tubes.
These pipelines, which dominate the local geography, are one of the branches of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline that would transport gas from Camisea to the southern regions. The project, in charge of Odebrecht, Enagás and Graña y Montero, has been paralyzed since 2016. The 14-inch pipelines invaded their habitat.
A headache
“They were abandoned, then a company came and covered them. As you can see, it is an obstacle between my house and my farm. I can’t graze my sheep, I have to look for a little path ”, he tells us in Quechua Martina Umeres while trying to pass over the pipeline.
Martina is over 50 years old. She remembers that she and her community were told that with the pipeline they would enjoy cheap gas. A sacrifice was worth making. Five years later and with the project paralyzed, the community member only refuses with the tubes. “Some time ago my house was flooded. The tube is over a ditch, when it rains we are in trouble. My animals sometimes scratch on these linings, ”he says.
The former president of the community of Acchahuata Fermín Quispe denounces that they granted 25 meters for the passage of the gas pipeline, but since it was paralyzed, the company in charge of taking care of the pipelines requires 800 meters. They are not willing to concession. “That the government of Pedro Castillo do something, what will happen to those pipelines. We live off our alpacas, on our crops, ”he says annoyed.
Millionaire investment
The South Peruvian Gas Pipeline was started in 2015. It would transport gas from the Camisea field to the southern coast of Arequipa and Moquegua. The pipeline would travel a thousand kilometers through six regions.
Odebrecht could not continue on the job due to financial problems. In 2017, the government of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski formalized the conclusion of the contract. The pipeline is not only a white elephant, it also costs.
The Executive hired the Colombian company Estudios Técnicos SAS to preserve the assets. It pays him US $ 46 million 899,000 per year, in four years US $ 187 million 596,000 have already been disbursed, silver from all Peruvians.
“You pay for a project that is trapped,” said the director of Hydrocarbons of the College of Engineers of Cusco, Carlos Aguilar.
Aguilar, like the specialist Antonio Gamero, believes that the Pedro Castillo government should resume the work. It is the most profitable way to massify gas in a sustainable way in southern cities.
“All Peruvians have paid for the coast to have gas. We contribute through our electricity bills. That is why the home connections are numerous in Lima and Ica, they have pipelines. In the south, the connections are limited because the gas is transported in trucks ”. In Lima, home connections exceed one million 200,000 and in Ica it reaches 70,000. In the south, between Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna they will not exceed 13,000.
Gas not used
For Carlos Aguilar, regarding the promise of massification of gas from the Castillo government, there is no concrete plan. “It is not yet known how they will massify and it is not because of the lack of reserves, but because of the lack of infrastructure,” he explained.
The representative of Pluspetrol, Daniel Guerra, revealed in a recent forum in Cusco that they return 400 million cubic feet of gas a day due to the lack of demand.
He explained that daily they extract 1,600 million cubic feet, 600 are destined for the domestic market, the same figure goes for export and the rest is returned. “Practically no one knows what to do with the gas and that is the responsibility of the State,” Aguilar said.
The first Mirtha Vasquez it was consulted about the supply of enough gas to supply 20 million household connections. “It is what we just learned. That we have very important gas reserves, there are 400 million that cannot be used. The problem is that we need to improve the infrastructure or the mechanisms so that this gas can reach Peruvian families, ”he replied.
He announced that they are analyzing various proposals. The construction of pipelines from Camisea and the construction of small city gates or continuing with virtual gas through gas centers is evaluated. “We have made a commitment to see if this is the least expensive and fastest alternative for the massification of gas,” he added.
.
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
