70 MW Salvador solar photovoltaic project secures PPA with EE-ERNC-1

Etrion Corporation and Empresa Eléctrica ERNC-1 (EE-ERNC-1) has executed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for the 70MW Salvador solar photovoltaic project in northern Chile.

Etrion and its partners, Total and SunPower announced the completion of the Salvador solar power plant in November 2014. Project Salvador is owned initially 70 percent by Etrion, 20 percent by Total and 10 percent by a local developer. Project Salvador is expected to produce approximately 200 gigawatt-hours of solar electricity per year, enough to supply electricity to approximately 70,000 households in Chile.

The total project cost of approximately US$200 million was financed 70% through USD-denominated, non-recourse project debt from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s Development Finance Institution.

Project Salvador is currently operating on a merchant basis where the electricity produced is sold on the spot market and delivered to the Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC) electricity network.

In order to secure a portion of the revenues, Project Salvador has executed a long-term PPA with EE-ERNC-1, an investment grade off-taker. The PPA is for approximately 35 percent of Project Salvador’s production for 15 years starting January 1, 2016, with the electricity price denominated in US dollars and inflated according to the US Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Marco A. Northland, Etrion’s CEO, commented,

“We are pleased to announce our first PPA in the Americas and look forward to working with EE-ERNC-1 to supply clean electricity to consumers in Chile. We continue our efforts to market additional Salvador capacity to other off-takers for complementary long-term contracts.”

Olivier Potart, Antuko’s Chief Investment Officer in charge of energy trading for EE-ERNC-1, said,

“The energy produced by the Salvador solar park is extremely predictable and stable throughout the year. It is therefore a robust energy source in EE-ERNC-1’s portfolio.”