Date: June 8
Akuo, a global producer and developer of renewable energy, and Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure announced the closing of financing and the start of construction of a portfolio of nine photovoltaic power plants with a total capacity of 80 MWp in Chile.
The projects are located in the south of Santiago de Chile, located in the Maule (VII), Ñuble (XVI), Araucanía (IX) and Biobío (VIII) Regions. Once in service, the portfolio will supply enough electricity to power approximately 60,000 homes. They will avoid the emission of more than 60,000 tons of CO2 each year of operation and will provide a sustainable and local source of clean electricity. These nine solar parks will help the country to diversify its electricity mix.
As reported from Akuo, Chile has the ambitious goal of converting 70% of its total energy consumption to renewables by 2030, with strong citizen support: 91% of Chileans believe that climate change should be treated as a government priority , according to the Yale Program for Climate Change Communication.
The portfolio benefits from the country’s PMGD (Small Distributed Generation Media) regime. Akuo and Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure are the equity sponsors, while debt financing is provided by DNB. The engineering, procurement and construction activities for the realization of the nine solar plants will be carried out by the Italian engineering company MAIRE Group, which has also acted as co-developer of the initiatives, through its Integrated E&C Solutions business unit.
Martin Bocage, Akuo Country Manager for Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, stated that “construction is ongoing and soon we will inject electricity for the benefit of citizens.” “Chile’s renewable energy strategy encourages us to continue growing and investing in this country,” he added.
“This investment increases Atlantica’s presence in Chile as we continue to execute our growth plan in renewables. Chile is one of our main geographies in South America and we plan to continue dedicating time and efforts to close new investments and contribute to the country’s transition towards a clean energy mix”, said Antonio Merino, VP for South America at Atlantica.
For his part, Esteban Uauy, Senior Vice President of Project Finance in Latam, stated that “DNB is very satisfied with this financing as it continues to underpin the importance of distributed generation in Chile, while supporting the growth and development of two customers deeply committed to renewables”.
Source: Review Energy
