Financing for Closes for OPIC-Supported Chilean Hydroelectric Power Plant

December 13, 2013

(OPIC) WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) recently closed a $245 million loan to Alto Maipo SpA for the construction of a hydroelectric power plant east of Santiago, Chile. The power plant will be a key generation facility for Santiago and reduce electricity costs, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, in a system that has become increasingly reliant on coal and diesel generation plants.

The OPIC loan, which is structured as a project finance credit facility for a tenor of 20 years, is part of a $1.2 billion lending facility enabled by a syndicate of multilateral and commercial banks including the Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Corpbanca, Banco de Crédito e Inversiones, Banco Itaú Chile, Banco del Estado de Chile, KfW Ipex-Bank GmbH and DNB Bank ASA.

The 531 MW run-of-river hydroelectric power plant will have a significant development impact on Chile, enhancing the reliability of electricity supply to central Chile, the country’s economic hub which includes Santiago, and creating both temporary and permanent local employment opportunities in a rural area of the country. Additionally, the project will improve system energy efficiency and assist in reducing the nation’s dependence on imported fossil fuels. Furthermore, the project has met and is required to maintain compliance with international environmental and social standards.

“This plant will make remarkable strides in providing Santiago, and rural areas of the central Metropolitan Region, with reliant, clean energy that will fuel both the residential infrastructure and the job economy in Chile, as well as in the U.S.,” said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield.

Virginia-based AES Corporation’s Chilean subsidiary AES Gener S.A., alongside U.K.-based Antofagasta plc.’s Chilean subsidiary, Antofagasta Minerals S.A., are sponsoring the project.

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