Brussels, 27/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 27 October, the European Investment Bank (EIB) granted a USD 211 million loan to the two subsidiaries of the Gas de France-Suez Group holding the concession for the Dos Mares project for the construction and operation of hydropower plants in Panama. The loan will part-finance the construction and operation of the Guanaca, Lorena and Prudencia hydropower plants on the Chiriqui river in western Panama. With a total installed capacity of 117.5 MW, the three plants will be integrated into the river's existing hydroelectric system consisting of the Fortuna and Canjilones plants. A EIB press release explained that, “the project will help to meet the rapidly growing electricity demand in Panama in an environmentally sustainable way using available water resources”.??The EIB is granting this loan under the Sustainable Energy and Security of Supply Facility and affirmed that the project meets the facility's requirements inasmuch as it is located in Latin America and is aimed at strengthening energy security on the basis of a renewable resource. This is the EIB's sixth operation in Panama, where it has now lent a total of EUR 719 million, including in particular USD 500 million to finance the widening of the Panama Canal. (O.L.)