Acciona and Tuto Energy have secured €226m funding from four financial institutions for the under-construction 404MW Puerto Libertad solar plant in the Sonora region of Mexico.
The North American Development Bank, Banco Nacional de Obras y Servicios of Mexico, Instituto de Crédito Oficial of Spain and Banco Sabadell will each provide an equal share that is repayable over 18 years.
Acciona and Tuto Energy each own 50% of Puerto Libertad, which will cover 2.4 square kilometres and feature over 1.2 million polycrystalline silicon panels mounted on horizontal trackers.
An average of 500 people will construct the project, rising to 900 during peak activity, while 38 full-time jobs will be created once Puerto Libertad is operational next year.
Some 229MW of electricity will be supplied to the country’s Federal Electricity Commission, while 114MW will be used for a private electricity purchase-and-sale contract.
The remaining 61MW will sold in the wholesale electricity market, Acciona said.
Acciona Energia Mexico chief executive Miguel Angel Alonso said: “We are very pleased to have signed this finance agreement, which shows the confidence of the financial entities in our ability to complete and manage such an ambitious renewable project as this one, the biggest ever materialised by Acciona Energia.”
North American Development Bank director-general Alex Hinojosa said: “We are pleased to have participated in the financing for this solar project, one of the biggest in Latin America, and we hope it will be an example for other companies that wish to take advantage of the considerable solar potential of Sonora within the framework of the energy reforms taking place in Mexico.”
Image: Acciona
Acciona banks 404MW Mexico sun
By EBS