By Helen Murphy and Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Colombian energy company Colinversiones CLI.CN may tap capital markets as soon as next year to help finance a $700 million hydroelectric project and is also looking to invest overseas, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
Latin America's No. 4 economy is trying to boost power generation capacity as electricity demand - whose rise and fall can signal bottlenecks - increases in line with Colombia's fast-growing economy.
Colinversiones, the nation's fourth-biggest electricity generator, plans to raise financing for a 352 megawatt-capacity plant using a mixture of cash, international loans or domestic bank credit, CEO Juan Guillermo Londono said.
The company also could seek to issue shares or bonds when market conditions allow, Londono told Reuters in an interview.
"We will define the mix as financial markets show which is the best in terms of cost, maturity, guarantees and exchange risks," he said.
"Right now we don't have any need to go to capital markets; the project has a gradual investment curve ... I'd say from 2013 onward."
Colinversiones or Compania Colombiana de Inversiones - once a sprawling holding with investments in tobacco, hotels and wood pulp - has sold off most non-core assets in recent years to focus on the electricity industry.
The Andean nation needs increased electricity generation and distribution to supply the burgeoning economy, and has allocated a range of new power projects to boost its installed capacity from the current 13,200 MW.
Investors are flooding Colombia to buy into the energy, infrastructure and mining sectors after a 10-year U.S.-funded offensive against insurgent groups made the country safer to do business.
Production at the Porvenir II plant in central Antioquia province is expected to be 1.4 terrawatt/hours and it will go into operation in 2018, he said.
The company currently has around 1,800 MW of installed capacity.
Colinversiones plans to invest $230 million in four electricity projects locally this year and has another $250 million in shares and other assets it could use to spend overseas if the right opportunity comes up, Londono said.
The utility provider is eyeing assets in countries such as Peru, Chile, Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador, he said.
While Colombia's mountain ranges filled with coal and above average rainfall is ideal for both hydro and thermal electricity, Colinversiones is also analyzing possible alternative energy projects like wind and solar, Londono said.
(Editing by Jack Kimball and Lisa Shumaker) ((helen.murphy@thomsonreuters.com)(+571-634-4139)(Reuters Messaging: helen.murphy.reuters.net@reuters.com))
Keywords: COLOMBIA COLINVERSIONES/
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