Proceeds to help finance construction of wind farms in Brazil’s northeast and Uruguay
IMPSA, one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, will get a $150 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to help finance its plans to expand wind energy generation in Latin America.
The IDB loan will be to IMPSA’s Brazilian subsidiary Wind Power Energía S.A. to support the construction of an estimated four wind farms, three in Brazil and one in Uruguay, which will add 546 megawatts of wind energy capacity in the region by 2014. The estimated $1.4 billion investment program is expected to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 595,000 to 680,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year once the projects are fully operational.
“The long-term financing provided by the IDB will allow IMPSA to advance on its plans to build a long-term renewable energy market in Latin America and bypass the current turbulence in credit markets, which could make project financing more challenging in the coming months,’’ said John Graham, project team leader at the IDB’s Structured and Corporate Finance Department. “The IDB maintains ambitious targets for expanding its renewable energy portfolio across the region, and operations such as the IMPSA financing are meant to have a catalytic impact on this rapidly expanding sector.”
The three new Brazilian wind power plants will add an additional 481 megawatts of installed capacity in Brazil while the plant in Uruguay, known as El Libertador, will contribute with at least 13 percent of the country’s strategic goal of reaching 500 megawatts of installed wind capacity over the next five years.
The IDB will also provide IMPSA with technical assistance to conduct an energy efficiency audit in its primary hydro and wind turbine manufacturing plant. The study will help identify options for reducing the energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions at the plant, solutions that can be also implemented in other IMPSA’s plants.
IMPSA has installed hydro and wind power generation equipment across more than 110 projects in 30 countries with a cumulative capacity of approximately 23,600 megawatts. IMPSA ranks as the largest Latin American wind equipment manufacturer and direct investor in wind farms as well as the second largest manufacturer of hydro equipment in the region.
About the Structured and Corporate Finance Department
The Structured and Corporate Finance Department (SCF) leads all IDB non-sovereign guaranteed operations for large scale projects, companies and financial institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through its loan syndication program, SCF plays a catalytic role, helping mobilize resources from third parties by partnering with commercial banks, institutional investors, co-guarantors, and other co-lenders for projects with high developmental impact.