Independent power producer (IPP) Grenergy has reached financial close on phases one and two of its Oasis de Atacama BESS and solar project in Chile, which will eventually reach 4.1GWh.
The Spain-headquartered firm has secured a US$354 million ‘green loan’ with complementary credit lines from banks BNP Paribas, Natixis, Societe Generale, The Bank of Nova Scotia and SMBC.
The financing covers phases one and two of its Oasis de Atacama battery energy storage system (BESS) project, totalling 244MWp of solar and 1.24GWh of BESS capacity. Long-term, the project aims to reach 4.1GWh of BESS capacity.
Chinese EV and BESS firm BYD looks set to supply the BESS for those first phases of the project, which should be completed in 2025.
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Grenergy has frequently claimed the project as ‘the largest energy storage project in the world’, since revealing it in November 2023, though clearly it means BESS only, as many existing pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) projects are larger. Grenergy will invest US$1.4 billion in the project.
In January it revealed it has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the fourth phase of the project, having already done so for the prior three phases, as covered by our sister site PV Tech. It now has PPAs for 75% of the project’s capacity, it said.
Grenergy’s executive chairman, David Ruiz de Andrés, commented: “This operation demonstrates the banks’ confidence in the hybridisation of solar plants with storage, and in Grenergy’s business model, which continues to make progress in becoming a world leader in storage.”
Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 3rd annual Energy Storage Summit Latin America in Santiago, Chile, 15-16 October 2024. This year’s events bring together Latin America’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, network operators, EPCs and more all in one place to discuss the landscape of energy storage in the region. Visit the official site for more info.
