Cubico Sustainable Investments has reached financial close for a 350MW solar plant in Mexico.
The Solem project in Aguascalientes was awarded a power purchase agreement (PPA) in the second round of the country’s auction process in September last year. The financial close is an important milestone for Mexico's burgeoning PV industry.
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Funds have been provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in the Americas, the China Co-Financing Fund for Latin America & the Caribbean, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and two Mexican state instiutions Bancomext and Banobras.
A further US$220 million of project finance debt was raised for a 250MW wind farm in Nuevo Leon, awarded in the same auction.
“We are very proud of having reached this ground-breaking milestone for two of our projects which are amongst a handful, from either the first or second auction in Mexico, that have been able to raise third-party financing,” said Ricardo Diaz, head of Americas, Cubico.
“We now plan to continue consolidating our presence in the market supporting the government and selected local developers to achieve their clean energy ambitions in the country, as we are doing in the rest of the region,” he added.
Osvaldo Rance, head of Mexico, Cubico, added: “This titanic effort from all parties involved stands a tangible proof of the bankability of the PPA awarded in the auction and the new legal framework that enabled us to raise competitive financing.
“We are also very excited by the fact that the Solem project developed by our minority partner, Alten Renewable Energy, will be the largest solar PV to be built in Latin America,” claimed Rance.
Cubico is investing a further US$200 million of equity in the two projects which it expects to be operational by Q4 2018.