Abengoa closes bridge financing for Chile’s solar project

Abengoa Solar Chile S.A., a branch of the multinational Abengoa Spain, has secured a $205 million bridge financing arranged by BTG Pactual for the construction and operation of the Cerro Dominador solar project, a 110 MW concentrated solar power plant located in Chile.

Shearman & Sterling advised the borrower in connection with the Cerro Dominador project.

The project will be the first solar-thermal plant for direct electricity production in South America and is part of the Chilean government’s national renewable energy development program.

The project was approved by the Chilean government in 2013. The plant will be located in the commune of María Elena in the Antofagasta Region of Chile.

As a part of the international tender launched by the Chilean Ministry of Energy and Corfo, the project will receive a grant of up to $20 million from the Ministry of Energy, operating through Corfo. A concession for use of government land has also been granted.

Additional funding amounting to approximately $500 million was arranged by the IADB (Inter-American Development Bank), the Clean Technology Fund, the German development bank KFW, European Union and the Canadian Fund, in coordination with the Chilean Government.

The Cerro Dominador project will have a 110MW solar-thermal tower. This technology uses a series of mirrors (heliostats) that track the sun on two axes, concentrating the solar radiation on a receiver on the upper part of the tower, where the heat is transferred to molten salts. The molten salts then transfer their heat in a heat exchanger to water, generating superheated steam, which feeds a turbine that transforms the kinetic energy of the steam into electric energy.