Construction BUSINESS

Irish renewable energy generation company, Aela Energia, has received $410m (€349m) in funding for two wind farms in Chile. The company is a joint venture, 60% owned by Actis and Mainstream owning the remaining 40%. The financing will allow the firm to begin the 170MW Sarco ( in the Atacama region) and 129MW Aurora (in Los Lagos region) projects.

Developed by Mainstream, the two projects will be completed in the second half of 2018. It is thought that the combined efforts of the two projects will provide power to the equivalent of 460,000 households.

“These projects were awarded through a competitive tendering process in which wind energy prices came in below fossil fuel prices, clearly demonstrating that renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuel generation,” Bart Doyle, General Manager of Mainstream Chile, said.

“Last year Mainstream was exclusively awarded further supply contracts equivalent to almost 1GW of wind capacity in Chile, representing a 30% share of the auction, which further underpins our commitment to Chile and positions us as the leading independent renewable energy company focused on high-growth emerging markets.”

The financing will be provided by a group of multilateral and commercial banks including Inter-American Development Bank and its member affiliate Inter-American Investment Corporation (IADB-IIC), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Korean Development Bank, Caixa, and KfW and Banco Santander as VAT lender.