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One year after opening the $6 billion expansion of the Panama Canal, officials are already discussing another set of locks. If demand continues at its current pace, a new set of locks could be needed by 2025, Canal Administrator Jorge Luis Quijano recently told reporters.

While nothing is definite, a group has already been formed to study the technical details of an expansion project, Quijano said.

In the future “there will be greater demand through the Panama Canal and that will dictate …at what time you can speak of a fourth set of locks,” Quijano said.

This could be major news for Panama. To put it in perspective, the third set of locks took nine years to build and was a huge driver for Panama’s economy. The Canal also served to expand Panama’s tourism market, generating media attention and interest around the world.

Traffic through the newly expanded Canal has surpassed some expectations, which is one reason for the discussion of a potential fourth set of locks. The amount of merchandise moving through the Canal is “much larger than expected,” Quijano told reporters.

For the Canal’s fiscal year, which ends in September, the Canal Authority is predicting 391 million tons of cargo will pass through the Canal, compared to 330 million a year earlier, according to coverage in Telemetro.

“Every day the world connects more and the maritime route is the least costly and the least polluting, so our route becomes more effective,” Quijano said.

Several issues face any attempt to build a new set of locks, including the need for water to maintain levels in waterway, Quijano said. In 2016 officials implemented restrictions on the draft of ships, due to reduced water levels.

Most likely a reservoir will be needed to help maintain water levels in new locks, Quijano said. Without water, a fourth set of locks is “a dream,” he told Prensa.com.