Construction Begins On What Will Be Chile's Largest Wind Farm
| in News Departments > Projects & Contracts |
| Parque Eolico El Arrayan (PEEA) has begun construction on its 115 MW wind project, located approximately 400 km north of Santiago, Chile. Once completed, El Arrayan will be Chile's largest wind power project and will provide enough renewable energy to power approximately 200,000 homes, according to PEEA. The sponsors of PEEA - AEI, Pattern Energy Group LP and Antofagasta Minerals SA (AMSA) - have also completed financing for the project. The $245 million structure provides financing for the two-year construction period, value-added tax, liquidity reserves and a 15-year term period. Funding commitments were arranged by Export Kredit Fonden through its ELO Scheme, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Credit Agricole. Chile's Corpbanca provided the VAT facility. Andrews Kurth LLP served as primary development counsel and primary finance counsel, and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP was counsel to the lender group, providing construction financing, a 15-year term loan and a letter of credit facility. The El Arrayan wind project will utilize 50 Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbines. The wind farm is being constructed by Skanska Chile, and Pattern Energy will operate the project after its construction. In November 2011, PEEA entered into a 20-year renewable power sale and energy services agreements with Minera Los Pelambres, a mining company controlled by AMSA, for the sale of energy produced by PEEA. The project is expected to achieve commercial operation in early 2014. |
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