Financing for the two solar farms was provided by Bancomext, Banobras, Nafin and the North American Development Bank (Nadbank).
The two solar farms include Orejana and Santa María and these will be built in Sonora and Chihuahua, respectively. Zuma Energia secured the tender in the second long-term electricity auction in the country.
The Orejana solar farm will have a capacity of 158MW and will be located in Hermosillo, Sonora. The second solar farm, Santa María will have capacity of 179MW and will be located in Galeana, Chihuahua.
The two solar farms will include more than a million panels. When they begin operations, they are expected to power as many as 500,000 homes, while avoiding emissions of more than 280,000 thousand tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year.
Zuma Energía CEO Adrian Katzew said: “At Zuma Energía we are very grateful for the trust deposited upon us by our shareholder and lenders, and the dedication from all the banks and advisors to establish the principles of these new financial structures. Also, my gratitude to the extraordinary work performed by Zuma´s team.”
Financial closing for the two solar farms follows the closure for its Reynosa wind farm in August, which has a total capacity of 424MW.
Apart from the two solar plants and the Reynosa wind farm, Zuma Energía has a 50MW wind farm in operation in Oaxaca.
Zuma board member and Actis partner and Mexico head Michael Harrington said: “We are seeing the energy reforms play out and attract new players and international funding.
“Mexico has compelling fundamentals for investing in power generation, including superior natural resources, an evolving and supportive regulatory framework and a deep project finance capacity.”
Image: Zuma Energia secures financing for two solar farms in Mexico. Photo: Courtesy of RK008/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
