Lisbon, Oct, 10, 2024 (Lusa) - The European Investment Bank's (EIB) financing for the high-speed railway, totalling €3 billion, brings "clear advantages", particularly in terms of the price of the debt, making the project cheaper for taxpayers, the vice-president of IP said on Thursday.
According to Carlos Fernandes, vice-president of Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), the EIB has approved overall funding of around €3 billion for this first phase, under favourable conditions.
"We all have a clear idea of the EIB's advantages, both in terms of maturities and the price of this debt," he said, emphasising that "the lower the cost of the debt, the cheaper the project will be for Portuguese taxpayers."
The project also has EU funding of €813 million under the CEF 2 (Connecting Europe Facility) programme.
The manager, who spoke during the award ceremony for the first high-speed public-private partnership (PPP) in Lisbon, took stock of all the projects that are underway, not just the Lisbon-Porto project, but also Porto-Vigo and Lisbon-Madrid, ensuring that deadlines are being met.
The concession for the high-speed railway line between Porto (Campanhã) and Oiã, which is part of the first of three phases of the new Porto-Lisbon link, was awarded today to the Lusolav Consortium, made up of the companies Mota-Engil, Teixeira Duarte, Casais, Alves Ribeiro, Conduril and Construções Gabriel A.S. Couto.
This concession contract, according to IP in a press release, includes "the conception, design and construction of 71 kilometres of new high-speed line between Campanhã Station in Porto and Oiã, the adaptation of the current Campanhã station to high-speed requirements, a new underground station in Vila Nova de Gaia, in the Santo Ovídio area, a new bridge over the River Douro, connections to the North Line near Canelas and a new electric traction substation in the Estarreja area".
The contract, which will still have to be scrutinised by the Court of Auditors, also includes "the maintenance and provision, for a period of 25 years", of the elements carried out, with the exception of Campanhã Station and the surface component of Gaia Station (Sto. Ovídio).
With a total term of 30 years, covering "a development period, which is estimated to be 5 years, and an infrastructure provision period of 25 years", it was awarded for a value of more than 1.6 billion euros, "expressed in net present value, with reference to December 2023", with "a maximum value of €480,000,000.00 being added to the award value, to be paid by IP to the future concessionaire".
The tender has already been launched for the next PPP, between Oiã and Soure, for an investment of more than €1.9 billion.
ALN/ADB // ADB.
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