Bank of China provides USD $24.45 million loan for the San Juan 80 MW Solar PV Power Plant

Project narrative

In 2018, Bank of China's Panama Branch issued a $24.45 million loan to Cordillera Solar I, S.A. — a special purpose vehicle and subsidiary of JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. — for the San Juan 80 MW Solar PV Power Plant Project. The loan carries a 15 years maturity. Its interest rate is unknown. The lender has a first ranking security over the project’s assets and rights. The Bank of China loan was part of a larger, $97.648 million debt financing package, which included a loan from Inter-American Investment Corporation ($10 million), a loan from Citi ($8 million), a loan from Dutch Development Bank/FMO ($45 million), and a loan from the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in The Americas ($10 million). The $130.08 million PPP project is being financed according to a debt-to-equity ratio of 75:25. The purpose of the project was to finance the construction, operation and maintenance of an 80 MW San Juan solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant and related substation, transmission line and civil engineering works. These associated facilities included a 132kV 15km transmission line to be located near the City of Las Flores, Departamento de Iglesia, San Juan, Argentina. The plant possesses 287,080 Jinko solar panels and has an installed power of 80 MW that generates electric energy for more than 60,000 homes. It is located 201 kilometers northeast of the capital of the San Juan province. Sterling and Wilson (“S&W”), an Indian engineering solutions company, was the EPC contractor responsible for implementation of the project. Cordillera Solar I, S.A. and S&W signed an EPC contract on January 10, 2018. The project was originally expected to reach completion on August 27, 2018. The project’s expected commercial operation date (COD) — as identified in the project's PPA — was January 1, 2019. The project was officially inaugurated by the Government of San Juan Province on May 9, 2019. At that time, the Government of San Juan province said that work on a phase-two project had commenced. However, the power plant was not even partially connected to the grid until October 1, 2019.