Ecuador utility Empresa Generadora del Austro S.A. (ElecAustro) has named the top-ranked bidder to perform a feasibility study and definitive design of the 27.8-MW Soldados-Yanuncay-Minas hydroelectric project on Ecuador's Yanuncay River. ElecAustro said CESEL S.A. had the highest ranking proposal, with 83.58 points in ElecAustro's 100-point ranking system. CESEL bid US$1.6 million for the work. The ICA-GCA consortium ranked 82.22 and presented a bid of US$2.1 million. (HNN 12/17/08) ElecAustro seeks a feasibility study that includes technical, environmental, economic, and social evaluations of the project proposed for Azuay Province. If the project is found feasible, the contractor would proceed with design of project works, including engineering specifications for civil work, electro-mechanical equipment, and communications and control systems. In 2008, Ecuador's energy and hydrocarbon investment fund, Fondo Ecuatoriano de Inversion en los Sectores Energetico e Hidrocarburifero (FEISEH), agreed to provide US$3.5 million in financing for Soldados-Yanuncay-Minas. FEISEH funds come from sale of oil from fields the government confiscated from Occidental Petroleum in 2006.