KfW IPEX-Bank and Helaba provide loan of $160m to Peralta wind farm in Uruguay

KfW IPEX-Bank and Helaba are supporting the expansion of renewable energies in Uruguay with a loan of $160.3m.

German wind turbine manufacturer ENERCON is building the Peralta wind farm, which will have a total installed capacity of around 117.5MW.

The loan structured by KfW IPEX-Bank as a long-time business partner of ENERCON and jointly provided through the consortium with Helaba as one of ENERCON’s core banks will be paid out in three tranches and is covered in part by a federal export credit guarantee.

KfW IPEX-Bank Management Board member Markus Scheer said: “German and European wind technology is in demand internationally. This is a great opportunity ? both for manufacturers and the environment. As a bank, we do our part in helping ideas and projects take concrete shape.”

The South American country has set ambitious goals for itself. It intends to generate as much as 38% of total domestic electricity production from wind energy by 2017; in mid-2015, this figure was only 13%.

The Peralta wind farm is located in the municipality of Cuchilla de Peralta in the department of Tacuarembó in central Uruguay.

The new farm consists of 50 ENERCON E-92 wind turbines featuring a hub height of 108 metres, a rotor diameter of 92 metres and an output of 2350 kW per turbine. The farm's total capacity of 117.5 MW and projected 300 GWh/pa are enough to supply around 150,000 Uruguayan households with green and clean energy.

The generated power will be sold to the national energy supplier Administración Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Eléctricas (UTE), which concluded a power purchase agreement for a period of 20 years with the project company founded by ENERCON.

The wind turbine manufacturer from Aurich, Lower Saxony, is involved in the Peralta project as investor, turbine supplier, construction and operation partner. It will also provide long-term servicing for the turbines for more than 15 years.