Canadian Solar secures $50 mn financing in Argentina

Canadian_Solar from theglobeandmail.com

Canadian Solar has secured $50 million in project financing — arranged by CAF – Development Bank of Latin America — for its 100.1 MWp solar power project in Cafayate, Salta Province, Argentina.

The $50 million non-recourse financing package consists of $30 million CAF A-loan with a 15-year tenor, $15 million parallel loan from Argentinian Development Bank of Investment and Foreign Trade (BICE) with a 15-year tenor, and $5 million parallel loan from the Bank of the City of Buenos Aires with a 10-year tenor.

CAF and Canadian Solar, which have a financing target of $75 million, are seeking an additional $25 million in senior financing that will close in early 2019.

RenovAR program, launched in 2016 to increase energy from renewables sources to 20 percent of the national electricity energy consumption by 2025, is supporting Canadian Solar’s Cafayate Project.

The program comprises 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with indexation, fiscal incentives for investment in projects, and a three-level guarantee mechanism, including a World Bank guarantee and the Argentina’s government guarantee through the Trust Fund for Renewable Energy (FODER).

The Cafayate solar project was awarded a U.S. dollar indexed PPA of $56.28/MWh during the second renewable public tender (RenovAR 1.5).

Canadian Solar will supply 289,800 MaxPower CS6U-P 345 W modules for the solar project that will reach commercial operation in the second quarter of 2019. The solar power plant will generate around 239,696 MWh of electricity per year. It will sell the power to CAMMESA, the national wholesale power market administrator and clearinghouse.