Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) has led a US$360 million financing round for a Chilean PV portfolio consisting of more than 360MW.
The solar PV portfolio, sponsored by Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure (CC&L Infrastructure) and CarbonFree Technology, is made up of 53 solar PV PMGD (Pequeños Medios de Generación Distribuida in Spanish), which are distributed generation solar PV plants of less than 9MW with a regulated, stabilised price for exported power.
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The solar portfolio includes 250MW of operating projects and 110MW currently in or about to enter construction, which will be fully operational in the second half of 2023.
The financing is comprised of a US$19 million credit facility, a US$71 million bridge-loan facility to fund ongoing costs and the remaining amount as private placement facility that will primarily be used to refinance existing bank debt and repay bridge-loan facility once the projects are completed.
Moreover, this will represent the largest PMGD portfolio financing in Chile both in terms of installed capacity and number of projects, according to the Natixis.
In the past three years, the company has financed twelve PMGD projects in Chile – including a US$87 million investment for 100MW with Sonnedix in 2020 and a similarly-structured deal with local developer CVE Chile the year before – with more than US$1.5 billion invested in the Latin American country’s distributed generation market.
Aitor Alava, managing director and head of infrastructure and energy finance for Latin America at Natixis CIB, said: “This successful series of transactions builds on our extensive track record of innovation in Latin America and solidifies our position as the ‘one-stop-shop’ for PMGD project developers seeking creative financing solutions.”
