Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On November 23, 2021, AES Andes -- a subsidiary of the AES Corporation -- signed a $150 million green credit agreement with three international banks to support its Greentegra strategy. Then, on March 10, 2022 and April 22, 2022, five new banks joined the syndicate and modifications were made to the initial credit agreement to provide an additional $250 million. The maturity was 5 years and the interest rate was 3 month-SOFR plus a margin. Credit Agricole Group, Natixis, and ICBC were among the banks that participated in the syndicate. The other lenders are unknown. The proceeds of the loan were to support four AES Andes renewable energy projects: - Andes Solar IIB, a 180 MW solar park containing 344,142 solar panels and a 112 MW of lithium battery storage. - Andes Solar IIB expansion, an expansion plan to add to add 2.3 GW of renewable energy capacity and batteries. - Andes Solar IV, a 263 MW solar park containing 598,104 solar panels. - Campo Lindo, a wind farm comprised of 23 wind turbines with a nominal power of 4,3 MW each. Andes Solar IIB, Andes Solar IIB expansion, Andes Solar IV are all located in Antofagasta, Chile. Campo Lindo is located in Los Angeles and Laja, Biobío Region, Chile. $397,033,423 was disbursed for wind projects (Campo Lindo) and $2,966,577 was disbursed for solar and energy storage projects (Andes Solar IIB, Andes Solar IIB expansion, Andes Solar IV). The loan was fully disbursed as of November 30, 2022.
Staff comments
1. It is unclear when ICBC may have joined the syndicate. AidData has chosen to provide the most conservative estimate of ICBC's contribution by applying an equal contribution assumption (ECA) to the $400 million loan across all eight banks ($50 million each). 2. An EIA was conducted for the photovoltaic park, located in Antofagasta, Chile, which houses Andes Solar IIB, Andes Solar IIB expansion, and Andes Solar IV.