Mainstream Renewable Power Closes Financing for Chilean Solar-Wind Farm

Global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power has achieved financial close for the third and final phase of its “Andes Renovables” wind and solar platform in Chile. The  US$182 million in debt raised will be used to build the “Copihue” phase which consists of one wind farm, named Camán, located in central Chile.

The project, which will commence operations in 2022, initially had an installed capacity of 100 MW but has since increased to 148.5 MW following the signing of an additional long-term, bilateral Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a strategic partner.

The senior debt financing comes from KfW IPEX-Bank, DNB, CaixaBank and the VAT financing comes from Scotiabank Chile.

With the financial close announced, Mainstream completes an investment of more than US$1.8 billion to build its entire Andes Renovables platform, which is expected to be fully operational by 2022 and will provide around 20% of power for regulated customers in Chile using renewable energy.

Manuel Tagle, Mainstream’s General Manager for Latin America said, ” The ten wind and solar farms that make up the platform are located between the regions of Antofagasta and Los Lagos. It is precisely this geographical and technological diversification that will allow for a more secure and constant electricity supply.

“We are pleased to have increased the Copihue portfolio size by 50% by adding a bilateral PPA in addition to the existing regulated PPA, which demonstrates our standing in the market.”

Sacyr will be the Balance of Plant contractor for the Camán wind farm and they will carry out the electrical connection works. The main transformer will be supplied by ABB.

Mary Quaney, Mainstream’s Group Chief Executive said, “Andes Renovables is one of the largest renewable energy platforms in Latin America which will have an installed capacity of 1.35 GW of clean energy, generating around 3,100 jobs during its construction.”

“It reflects our commitment to, and experience in Chile, which is one of the world’s most progressive renewable energy markets, and further solidifies our leadership position in-country, where we will soon be supplying the equivalent of one in five Chilean homes with power from our facilities,” he added.

Chile finds itself in the fortunate position of having some of the best conditions for both solar and wind energy. The narrow country with a ling coastline gets heavy solar radiation in the northern Atacama Desert and strong winds in Patagonia, in the southern Magallanes region. That encouraged the country to increase the goal for clean electricity generation to 40 percent by 2030, coinciding with the Jun. 8 inauguration in the northern region of Antofagasta of the Cerro Dominador Complex, which became the largest CSP solar plant in Latin America. A goal in which green hydrogen is beginning to be a part of the solution, with experts predicting potential for the country to export it by 2030 or earlier.