SunEdison secures financing and begins construction on Latin America's largest PV project at 100 MW

10 September 2013

SunEdison Inc. (St. Peters, Missouri, U.S.) has begun construction on a 100 MW-DC solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Atacama region of Chile, as the largest PV project to reach this phase in Latin America to date.

SunEdison expects to complete the Amanecer Solar CAP plant in the first quarter of 2014. The company has also closed on USD 212 million in non-recourse debt financing with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to support the construction of the project.

“We are very pleased to partner once more with OPIC and IFC,” said SunEdison President for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America Pancho Perez. “Amanecer Solar CAP is a landmark project that enables the deployment of solar energy in Chile in a meaningful way. Developing sophisticated energy solutions while reducing electricity costs has been a key differentiator of SunEdison's success in Chile.”

Total of USD 260 million in debt

The USD 212 million includes USD 65 million in debt from IFC and a USD 147.5 million parallel loan from OPIC. Rabobank additionally supplied a VAT facility in Chilean Pesos worth USD 45 million. The total value of the debt for this transaction is roughly USD 260 million.



Expected output more than 270 GWh

The Amanecer Solar CAP project will comprise more than 300,000 SunEdison Silvantis PV modules mounted on the company's AP90 single-axis trackers. The plant will cover an area of roughly 215 hectares near the town of Copiapo.

The plant will supply electricity to CAP SA (Santiago, Chile's) mining operations under a power purchase agreement. SunEdison expects the plant to generate 270 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity in the first year of operation, and the plant will be connected to the nation's SIC grid.