Germany’s KFW finances 123 MW Chile project selected in 2016 auction

The plant is being built by Spanish developer Solarpack in the Atacama desert. The project was selected in an energy auction held by the Chilean government in 2016. At the time, Solarpack’s bid of $29.1/MWh was a record low for solar.

The credit line will help fund a utility-scale project that will sell power for $29.1/MWh.

Image: Justin Jensen/Flickr

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From pv magazine Latin America.

Spanish PV project developer Solarpack has received a $91 million long-term loan from the KfW IPEX-Bank subsidiary of German development bank KfW.

Solarpack said it will use the funds for construction of its 123 MW PV plant in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. The $104 million project will be carried out thanks to investment by the company’s Solarpack Corporación Tecnológica, S.A. unit and is set to be complete by the end of the year.

The solar park will sell energy to 25 regional distribution companies from 2021 to 2040. Outside that period, said Solarpack in its press release announcing the KfW funding, electricity will be sold to the wholesale market.

The project was awarded a contract to generate 280 GWh per year for a then record low price of $29.1/MWh, in an auction held by the Chilean government in August 2016. The auction attracted bids for the generation of 12,430 GWh per year and the successful bidders included Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power and Spanish companies Endesa Chile, OPDE and Acciona. The final average price of the auction was $47.6/MWh.

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A previous procurement exercise, held in 2015 and the first that included PV projects in Chile, resulted in an average price was $79.3/MWh and attracted bids to generate 1.2 TWh/year.

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