Abengoa closes the long-term debt financing for its second wind farm in Uruguay

Spain's Abengoa, has received the first drawdown of long-term debt arranged under a project finance format for its 50 MW wind farm in Talas de Maciel, Flores Department, Uruguay, through its subsidiary Cadonal S.A.

The project has a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the national electricity company "Administración Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Eléctricas" (UTE) for 100 % of the generated power. Construction of the project is now complete and the wind farm is undergoing tests.

The financing, totaling US$90.1 million, was arranged with Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) and DNB Group, which acted as joint lead arrangers. Moreover, this funding has enabled the US$60 million bridging loan for the project to be repaid early.

The project was completed two months ahead of schedule, on budget, with the agreed quality specifications. Cadonal will now begin to sell its power on December 15. Abengoa has another 50 MW wind farm in Uruguay that has been operational since May 2014.

The wind farm’s entire output will be supplied to the national power grid via a substation at the site that is connected to the Cerro Colorado substation, which in turn will be connected to the Trinidad station via a 150 kV high voltage line.

The generated power will supply the equivalent of nearly 74,000 inhabitants per year and will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 118,500 tons of CO₂ equivalent.

Abengoa has been operating in Uruguay since 1980 and has developed numerous projects for UTE. Abengoa’s most important projects in this country include the extension and remodeling of the drinking water plant in Aguas Corrientes and the Montevideo to San Carlos transmission line.