Energy infrastructure firm TransCanada Corp. officially opened a new 560-kilometer natural gas pipeline yesterday that runs between central Chihuahua and the Sinaloa coast. The

20-billion-peso (US $1-billion) El Encino-Topolobampo pipeline crosses nine municipalities in Chihuahua and three in Sinaloa. It will supply gas from Waha, Texas, to power plants and

industrial and urban markets in the northeast of Mexico. The 30-inch-diameter pipeline was first placed in service in July and has the capacity to provide 670 million cubic feet of natural

gas per day. More than 150,000 tonnes of steel were used for the project, on which 4,000 employees completed more than 22 million hours of work over a period of four and a half years. José

project on environmental grounds. At yesterday’s inauguration ceremony in the municipality of Bocoyna, Borunda said that the project would bring economic and social benefits to the

municipalities it passes through. TransCanada signed an agreement with the state government, pledging to invest 45 million pesos (US $2.2 million) to build 1,445 rainwater harvesting systems

that will benefit residents in six Chihuahua municipalities. Chihuahua Governor Javier Corral said that with the opening of the new project there are now 2,000 kilometers of gas pipelines

that cross 29 municipalities in the state. He acknowledged the importance of investment in the energy sector for the state’s economy and stressed that the government would continue to work

to foster investor confidence in order to attract more infrastructure projects, including those in the renewable energy and tourism industries. _Source: El Financiero (sp) _