Grenergy inks loan for first phases of Chilean solar-storage giant

Spanish renewables developer-operator Grenergy Renovables SA (BME:GRE) has secured a senior non-recourse loan of USD 345 million (EUR 318.7m) plus other complementary credit lines to finance phases 1 and 2 of its gigawatt-scale Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage project in northern Chile.

The company said on Wednesday it has closed the financing with a syndicate consisting of BNP Paribas, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Societe Generale, The Bank of Nova Scotia and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), which are also mandated to finance phases 3 and 4. The close for these two phases is expected to take place in the coming months.

Grenergy plans to invest up to USD 1.4 billion in the Oasis de Atacama project to install close to 1 GW of solar plants and 4.1 GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS). The first two of the four phases correspond to 220 MWp of solar and 1.24 GWh of BESS.

Grenergy expects to connect the first phase by the end of 2024. The remaining phases will, for the most part, be connected by 2025, according to the company.

Among the suppliers for the project are Spanish power conversion specialist Ingeteam SA, which will supply technology for both the solar and the BESS portion of the development. China’s BYD Co Ltd (SHE:002594) is supplying its batteries for phases 1 and 2.

Off-takers include an unnamed “international utility” and Chilean energy company Emoac, which signed 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Grenergy. With these PPAs, the Oasis de Atacama project is contracted for 75% of the output, according to Grenergy.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.924)

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