Lima, May 18 (IANS/EFE): Genrent do Brasil has been awarded a concession to build a 70 MW thermoelectric plant and temporarily supply electricity to the Peruvian Amazon city of Iquitos, authorities said.

Peru's Private Investment Promotion Agency, or ProInversion, said the Brazilian company won the project, which carries an investment cost of $100 million, after "offering the lowest remuneration per power unit proposed, which was the competition factor in the process".

ProInversion executive director Javier Illescas stressed the "importance of this project for a city like Iquitos", which he noted is not connected to the national power grid.

"The project will serve to improve electricity distribution capacity, reduce pollution and mitigate the city's recurring problems with power outages," he said.

The plant will serve as a stopgap measure until the Moyobamba-Iquitos transmission line, another ProInversion project that the agency plans to award this year, begins operating, Illescas said.

Once Iquitos is connected to the national grid, the Genrent plant will serve as a backup power source, he added.

ProInversion said the project, which also will include construction of a 60 kV transmission line, is to be built within 30 months after the 20-year operation and maintenance contract is signed.