Hidroituango 2018 Tunnel Collapse: Construction Contractors Exonerated, but Project Designer, Supervisor Still Face Trial
Medellin-based construction contractor Conconcreto announced November 7 that it and its “Hidroituango” consortium partners Coninsa Ramon H and Camargo Correa have been exonerated from a COP$9.9 trillion (US$2.6 billion) damages claim brought by former Medellin Mayor Daniel Quintero over a 2018 tunnel collapse at the US$5 billion, 2.4-gigawatt hydroelectric plant.
The trio of construction contractors earlier had been exonerated from responsibility for the tunnel collapse thanks to an arbitration panel ruling (see Medellín Herald December 11,2024), which is why the Administrative Court of Antioquia just ruled that double jeopardy cannot legally apply.
However, the Hidroituango project designer-consultant, “Ituango Generation Consortium,” and the Ingetec-Sedic Consortium (project supervisor), as well as Seguros Generales Suramericana still face trial over related damage claims brought by electric power giant EPM, which — together with the Antioquia departmental government — jointly own Hidroituango.
EPM is 100% owned by the city of Medellin — and hence financial losses suffered from Hidroituango project delays that resulted from the tunnel collapse not only hurt EPM, but also hurt city finances.
While the Hidroituango hydroelectric plant is already generating power at reduced capacity, full completion has been delayed to 2027 — rather than the original, scheduled completion date of late-2022 or early-2023.
