The Project involves the construction and operations of a 14.8 MW hydropower facility on the Jilamito River, a tributary of the Lean River. Two small diversion weirs (one on the main branch of the Jilamito River and one on a smaller tributary) will be used to route the water to a settling pond where large sediments will be removed. The water will then be channeled through a low-pressure tunnel (~200 m) and pipeline (~1.2 km) to a surge tank that flows into a high-pressure penstock (~2.5 km) that leads to the power house where the turbines and generators will be housed. After passing through the turbines the water will be returned to the adjacent Los Olivios River (which re-joins the Jilamito River ~1 km downstream of the powerhouse). In addition to the main project components the following infrastructure will be required to help construct and operate the Project:
- A heavy-lift skyline cable system from powerhouse to the upper basin (~2 km);
- A new 10.5 km, 34.5kV overhead transmission line (OHL) from the Jilamito powerhouse to the Lean switching station where it will connect into the existing regional transmission system;
- One new substation (at the powerhouse) and switching station (Lean);
- A new 7.5 km access road from the nearby town of Mezapita to the Project site, and internal access roads to link the powerhouse with the upper weir sites;
- Borrow pits for the road construction;
- Concrete aggregate quarries and aggregate crushing / processing plant which is located ~60 km from the Project site in Santa Ana, Municipality de la Masica, Atlántida;
- Three material dump sites;
- General supporting infrastructure including: waste management facilities, sanitation facilities, a medical center, satellite communication equipment, and temporary generators; and
- Worker accommodation (located in Mezapita), and a mountaintop workers’ camp (for approximately 50-70 workers). This camp will be located ~50 meters downstream of the surge tank. The construction and commissioning works are expected to be completed within 40-months from start of site preparatory work.

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Under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), DFC is obliged to respond to reasonably formulated requests for Agency records. However, DFC may apply exemptions from release to certain types of information and may charge fees in responding to requests. DFC has a designated FOIA officer who is trained in how to respond to requests and implement the law. You can learn more about filing a FOIA request at: https://www.dfc.gov/foia.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION (DFC)

The Office of Accountability is an independent office that addresses complaints about environmental or social issues related to DFC-supported projects. The office provides communities an opportunity to have concerns independently reviewed and addressed. If you submit a complaint to the Office of Accountability, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a problem solving dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the DFC complied with its policies to prevent environmental, social, human rights, and labor harms. 

You can find more information about the Office of Accountability at: https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/office-accountability.