Total, Etrion and SunPower secure funding for 70MWp Salvador solar project in Chile

Total New Energies, Etrion and SunPower have secured funding from the US government’s development finance institution Overseas Private Investment (OPIC) for setting up of the 70MWp Salvador solar project in the Atacama region of Chile.

As per the project finance facility agreement signed with the project special purpose vehicle PV Salvador, OPIC will provide 70% funding for about $200m project through long-term, non-recourse project debt.

The remaining 30% funding will come from Etrion, Total and the initial project developer Solventus through equity investment based on their ownership interests of 70%, 20% and 10% respectively.
Etrion is said to have a $42m credit facility from its major shareholder, the Lundin family, to fund its equity portion.

Following initial payback of $42m equity investment, Etrion’s ownership in the project will decrease to 50.01% from 70% and after 20-year of operations, its ownership will decrease to zero.

Etrion CEO Marco Northland said the Salvador project is company’s first project to be financed and developed with partners such as Total, SunPower and Solventus.

"Project Salvador almost doubles our installed capacity and is expected to grow our cash flow by approximately 50%, transforming Etrion into a global solar power generation platform," Northland added.
Total business operations senior vice president Bernard Clement said the Salvador project will be equipped with SunPower’s photovoltaic technology.

"As the largest solar merchant power plant in the world, this project will deliver advanced solar generation, operation technologies and management practices while creating a significant positive impact on local businesses and people," Clement added.

SunPower is set to start construction of the Salvador project on a 133 hectares land using its Oasis Power Block technology in January 2014, with full commissioning to be achieved in early 2015.
The majority of the project installation is expected to begin commercial operation during 2014.

Upon completion of the project, SunPower will sign long-term, fixed-price operation and maintenance agreement with the project that will initially operate on a merchant basis.

The electricity generated by the project will be sold on the spot market and supplied to the Sistema Interconectado Central electricity network.

Once completed, the solar power plant will connect through the power infrastructure of Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile.

When in operation, the Salvador solar plant would generate about 200GWH of electricity per year, enough to power approximately 80,000 households in Chile.