Media Releases

Voith is concerned by the news from Honduras and deeply regrets the murder of Berta Cáceres. We call on the Honduran authorities to do everything in order to thoroughly solve this crime and to bring those responsible to justice. We welcome the news that the Honduran authorities have asked for support from the international community.

Independently from the official investigation, we state that Voith puts the further execution for the project Agua Zarca under scrutiny. We are going to approach our customer Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA) to discuss the current situation in the Gualcarque River area and potential impacts on the contract Voith has with DESA. We are also going to approach or have already approached the financing project partners for the same reason.

Voith condemns any kind of violence. We do not tolerate any unlawful behavior towards individuals.

About the small hydro project Agua Zarca

The small hydro project Agua Zarca is located on the Gualcarque River in the Department of Santa Barbara some 9 km southeast of the community named San Francisco de Ojuera in the Northwest of Honduras. The capacity of this small-scale run-of-river hydro-electricity generation scheme will be 21.3 MW with an annual energy production of 98.8 GWh. Voith delivers three Francis turbines (total installed capacity of 22 Megawatt), along with generators and automation equipment. Furthermore, Voith will also be responsible for the supervision services of the erection and commissioning. The contract value for Voith has the amount of approximately €8.0 million sales.

The project is the country's largest small hydropower plant private project to date, and will make a significant contribution to the transition process that is being undertaken with the Honduran energy mix, whereby fossil fuels are being gradually replaced with renewable energy sources.

We do believe that our products contribute to improving the living conditions for many people, also in Honduras. Currently the overall electricity coverage in Honduras is 69 percent, in rural areas only 45 percent. That means that the energy supply does not meet the current demand. It is expected that this gap will even widen as the population and the economy will grow. In order to develop successfully, emerging economies such as Honduras need a reliable and sustainable energy supply. Hydropower is an alternative energy source which can fulfill these requirements. With a reliable energy supply, many people will initially get access to the development of the country along with higher standards in infrastructure, health and education system.

Voith Hydro, as a full-line supplier for hydropower plants, is one of the leading industrial partners for power plant operators worldwide. In the fiscal year 2014/15 Voith Hydro’s sales amounted to €1.3 billion.

Voith sets standards in the markets for energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials, transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith employs more than 20,000 people, generates €4.3 billion in sales, operates in over 60 countries around the world and is one of the biggest family owned companies in Europe.*
_{* Excluding the discontinued Group Division Voith Industrial Services.}