Aela Energía, the Chilean joint venture of Actis and Mainstream Renewable Power, has closed $410m in project financing to construct two wind farms in Chile, with a combined capacity of 299MW.

With the financial close, Aela Energia will start with the construction of the two wind farms which include the 170MW Sarco and 129MW Aurora projects.

These wind farms will be located in Freirina commune in the Atacama region and Llanquihue Commune in Los Lagos region respectively. The wind farms are scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2018.

Project financing for the wind farms will be provided by a group of multilateral and commercial banks. These include Inter-American Development Bank and its member affiliate Inter-American Investment Corporation (IADB-IIC), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Korean Development Bank, Caixa, and KfW and Banco Santander as VAT lender.

The financing will have a time-length of 18 years. While project financing will contribute 70% of the total financing for the projects, the remaining 30% will be provided by the equity partners.

Turbines for the wind farm will be supplied by German turbine-maker Senvion. Aela Energia stated that the two wind farms will generate enough energy to be supplied to 460,000 Chilean households.

Mainstream Chile general manager Bart Doyle said: “We are delighted to have reached financial close on these two projects, which will deliver 300MW of wind power to Chile when they are completed. These projects were awarded through a competitive tendering process in which wind energy prices came in below fossil fuel prices, clearly demonstrating that renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuel generation.

“Last year Mainstream was exclusively awarded further supply contracts equivalent to almost 1GW of wind capacity in Chile, representing a 30% share of the auction, which further underpins our commitment to Chile and positions us as the leading independent renewable energy company focused on high-growth emerging markets.”

Aela Energia is a joint venture, in which Actis owns 60% stake and the remaining 40% is owned by Mainstream Renewable Power.


Image: Cuel wind plant (33MW), Chile.  Developed, constructed and operated by Mainstream Renewable Power, owned by Aela Energia. Photo: Courtesy of Mainstream Renewable Power.