Enel Green Power secures $100m loan for development of wind projects in Brazil

Enel Green Power, an Italian renewable energy firm, has received a loan of $100m from Itaú Unibanco, for the construction of more than 260MW of wind power projects in Brazil.

This loan, which has a 10-year term, will be used for the construction of projects in Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte in the north-east of Brazil.

In May 2014, Enel closed a loan of $100m taken from the World Bank Group member, the International Finance Corporation to support wind projects in the same states.

Enel Green Power chief financial officer Giulio Carone said: "It is testament to Enel Green Power’s solid business model and financial strength that we are able to attract top quality financing partners such as Itaú and IFC as we continue to build on our position in Brazil.

"In this country we have reached nearly 300 MW of installed wind and hydro capacity, and have been recently awarded with over 450 MW from wind and solar in two auctions in a row, in addition to more than 300 MW of projects already in execution across all three technologies."

Through a public tender process, Enel Green Power recently secured 344MW of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Brazil.

The company also won the right to sign 20-year energy supply contracts for the 254MW Ituverava PV development and 90MW Delfina wind project.

Till date, Brazil has over 98,000MW of installed renewable capacity, which is about 85% of the country’s total installed capacity.