SunEdison agrees USD-130m financing for 69.5 MW in Chile

Oct 29, 2014 - US company SunEdison Inc (NYSE:SUNE) said today it has secured USD 130 million (EUR 102m) in non-recourse debt financing to back the construction of its 69.5-MW Javiera solar project in Chile.

Chilean lender CorpBanca (SCL:CORPBANCA) and Spanish bank BBVA (MCE:BBVA) were the mandated lead arrangers. SunEdison noted that for the first time solely commercial banks take part in a senior debt facility for a Chilean solar project.

The Javiera solar park, the capacity of which has been given in direct current (DC), is located in the Atacama Region. Last month it secured a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with a subsidiary of Antofagasta Minerals -- Chile’s biggest private mining company. Thus the solar power will go to the Los Pelambres mine in Coquimbo Region.

“We are thrilled to see that the renewables market in Chile is taking off, as it sees industrial partners signing bankable PPAs, as well as commercial banks financing projects with relevant partners and attractive prices,” said Carlos Lopez Rabadan, project finance head of BBVA in Chile.

SunEdison expects to connect the Javiera solar photovoltaic (PV) plant to the grid in the first three months of 2015. Its yieldco unit TerraForm Power Inc (NASDAQ:TERP) intends to acquire the plant once it is up and running.

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