Total, Etrion, SunPower secure financing for solar plant project in Chile

Dec 11, 2013 - French oil and gas group Total (EPA:FP), Swiss-based solar power producer Etrion Corporation (TSE:ETX, STO:ETX) and SunPower Corp (NASDAQ:SPWR) have secured financing for the construction of a 70-MWp solar power plant in the Atacama region in Chile.

The project will be carried out via PV Salvador, a special purpose vehicle, which has recently signed a project finance facility agreement with Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Etrion said in a statement yesterday.

Under the deal's terms, OPIC will finance 70% of the USD 200 million (EUR 145.3m) investment, while the remainder will be provided by Etrion, Total and the initial project developer, Solventus.

Etrion has a USD 42 million credit facility from its major shareholder, the Lundin family, and its stake in the solar project will be reduced to 50.01% from 70%, due to the OPIC funding.

The solar complex, dubbed Project Salvador, is expected to produce some 200 GWh of solar electricity annually, enough to supply electricity to approximately 80,000 households in Chile.

Project Salvador will initially operate on a merchant basis as the electricity produced will be sold on the spot market and delivered to the Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC) electricity network, with the ability to secure future power purchase agreements.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.727)

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