IDB support helps make up for a shortfall in commercial bank liquidity for project finance
The Spanish engineering and consulting company Isolux has received a $100 million corporate loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to help finance renewable energy and energy infrastructure projects in Latin America.
The loan will support the new Majes and Repartición Peruvian solar plants, with a total 40MW of installed capacity, which are the first large-scale solar installations in Latin America. In addition to diversifying Peru’s energy matrix, they will reduce 40,000 tons of C02 emissions annually while creating 260 construction jobs.
The loan is also expected to support the new 500 kV Taubate-Nova Iguaçu transmission line that will be located between the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, a region that needs significant reinforcements to its basic transmission network. During construction, the project will employ more than 1,400 workers, 80 percent of them from surrounding communities.
“Not only will the loan strengthen the region’s energy security, but it will also help an international firm continue to build world-class renewable energy and electricity infrastructure in Latin America at a time when the global financial market downturn is making it difficult to mobilize adequate financing,” said Valentina Sequi, IDB project team leader.
The IDB financing was extended for a seven-year term including a grace period of two years.