SunEdison seals US$130 million deal for Chilean solar plant

SunEdison has agreed a US$130 million non-recourse debt financing deal with CorpBanca and BBVA to construct a 69.5MW solar power plant in Chile. This is the first arrangement where commercial banks are the sole debt provider for a Chilean solar project.

Under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), the Javiera Solar Plant will provide energy to the largest private mining group in Chile, Minera Los Pelambres. Once completed in the first quarter of 2015, according to SunEdison, the 69.5MW solar plant will be one of the largest solar photovoltaic plants in Latin America.

Both CorpBanca and BBVA acted as mandated lead arranger of the contract and CorpBanca additionally as administrative and onshore collateral agent.

Although SunEdison will operate the plant under a long-term operation and management agreement, its subsidiary, the TerraForm Power yield co, plans to evaluate its options to purchase the plant in 2015 after the project is interconnected.  

Jose Perez, president of SunEdison for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America, said: "This project is further proof of the ability of solar photovoltaic energy to compete with other traditional energy sources in Chile, and demonstrates how clean energy technologies can contribute to meet the growing energy demand from the country's mining industry."

CorpBanca’s managing director Rodrigo Oyarzo Brncic said: "This year, we have seen how renewable energy has made great strides in our country's development, and CorpBanca has become a permanent partner in energy projects."