Acciona and Tuto Energy (Biofields Group) have secured €226m in financing to support the construction of their 404MW solar plant in Sonora, Mexico.
Image: The financing agreement has been signed with four banks. Photo: Courtesy of Acciona.
The Puerto Libertad photovoltaic complex will be owned equally by Acciona and Tuto Energy. Financing for the project is being provided by four banks including North American Development Bank (NADB), Banco Nacional de Obras y Servicios of Mexico (BANOBRAS), Instituto de Crédito Oficial of Spain (ICO) and Banco SABADELL.
The solar plant will be financed on an equal basis by the four banks, with a repayment term of 18 years. The plant’s construction began in February this year and it is anticipated to become fully operational in the first trimester of next year.
The solar plant will be equipped with 1,222,800 polycrystalline silicon panels mounted on horizontal tracking structures.
It will have a total solar capture surface area is 2.4 km2 or 333 soccer fields, generating 963GWh of power per year, which is enough to meet the electricity demands of 583,000 Mexican households.
The solar plant is also claimed to help in avoiding 925,443 tonnes of CO2 being released into the atmosphere.
Acciona Energía Mexico CEO Miguel Angel Alonso said: “We are very pleased to have signed this finance agreement, which shows the confidence of the financial entities in our ability to complete and manage such an ambitious renewable project as this one, the biggest ever materialized by Acciona Energía.”
An amount of 229MW or 478.3GWh per year of power generated from the Puerto Libertad solar plant will be supplied to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
Another 114MW of power generated will be supplied under private electricity purchase and sale agreement and the remaining 61MW will be allocated for sale in the wholesale electricity market.
Tuto Energy and Biofields Group CEO Roberto Giesemann, points out that “signing off this investment strengthens the group’s strategy of consolidating itself as a benchmark in sustainable activities in Mexico that create economic, social and environmental value.”