SunEdison announced on July 28th that it has secured financing and started construction on the 110-megawatt (MW) DC Quilapilun solar power plant in the Metropolitan Region of Chile. Once completed, the power plant will be SunEdison's first solar project in Santiago and is expected to be its largest solar project in Latin America.
The energy produced by the solar plant is expected to be sold to the regulated market through long-term power purchase agreements with local electricity suppliers. The energy will supply the Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC) as part of the 570 gigawatt hour (GWh) contract awarded to SunEdison by the Chilean National Energy Commission in December, 2014.
"This project is our first solar plant in the Metropolitan Region, and further advances our position as a renewable energy leader in Chile," stated Carlos Barrera, SunEdison vice president for Latin America. "Solar energy has become cost competitive with other energy generation sources in the country. With solar, we are able to supply regulated market consumers with clean energy at lower prices than they pay now."
Concurrently, SunEdison closed a $160 million USD long-term, non-recourse debt financing arrangement for the project with CorpBanca, one of the largest commercial banks in Chile, and DNB, Norway's largest financial services group. The financing will be used to fund the development, construction, and operation of the project.
Barrera added, "SunEdison is pleased to have the support of two top financial institutions, CorpBanca and DNB, on this project. Our strong relationships with institutions like these will help us deliver cost effective solar energy as we grow the industry in Chile."
The Quilapilun solar plant is expected to generate 242 GWh of electricity a year, enough to power 117,000 homes, and should eliminate the emission of more than 125,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, the equivalent of removing 28,000 cars from Chilean roads.
Once construction is complete, operation and maintenance of the power plant will be performed by SunEdison Services, which provides global 24/7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services.