IDB to help finance 98 MW of Chilean solar projects

Dec 23, 2014 - The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will lend USD 53.4 million (EUR 43.7m) to support the construction of two solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Chile with a combined capacity of 98 MW.

IDB said in a statement on Monday that it will provide a loan of USD 27.7 million for the 44-MW Arica 1 solar scheme in northern Chile, developed by a unit of Hong Kong-based Sky Solar Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:SKYS). The project will also receive an up to USD-13.9-million loan from the China Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (China Fund) plus an additional USD 8.5 million from the Clean Technology Fund.

Furthermore, IDB will lend USD 25.7 million for the 54-MW Los Loros PV project developed by Solairedirect Chile to the southwest of the city of Copiapo. This scheme, majority-owned by Solairedirect of France, will be backed also by senior loans of USD 6 million and a subordinated loan of USD 12 million from the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in the Americas (C2F) and USD 8 million from the China Fund.

Both C2F and the China Fund are administered by the IDB.

“These Projects will contribute to diversifying the energy matrix in the country, which is presently heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels,” said Jean-Marc Aboussouan, head of the infrastructure division of IDB’s structured and corporate finance department. Both plants will sell power to the spot market, IDB noted.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.817)

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