Source:ESS NEWS
Spanish company Grenergy has announced the sale of 23% of its huge Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage project, in Chile.
The ContourGlobal IPP owned by US investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. will pay up to $962 million for the site in northern Chile described as the largest energy storage facility in the world. The full sale price will be achieved if the project achieves certain contracted performance milestones.
The transaction, which lifted the Spanish stock market, came on the heels of Grenergy’s announcement it had secured a $299 million finance package for the third stage of the seven-phase mega site.
The sale relates to the first three phases of Oasis de Atacama, which are under construction and the subject of power purchase agreements signed by energy offtakers. Phases one to three will comprise 451 MW of solar generation capacity and 2.5 GWh of energy storage and are expected to produce 1.3 TWh of clean power per year.
The full, seven-stage project will have 11 GWh of energy storage capacity alongside almost 2 GW of solar. It is expected to generate around 5.5 TWh of energy annually.
The sale, which marks ContourGlobal’s entry into the Chilean market, includes “both the operation and maintenance of the assets for five years, as well as the supply of equipment such as batteries, thanks to the strategic agreements reached by Grenergy with third parties,” indicated the sale announcement by Grenergy.
The developer said the sale achieved the asset turnover target it had set for 2026 and “secured the financing to invest the €2.6 billion [$2.72 billion] envisaged in its strategic plan to become a world leader in energy storage.”
Post-sale, Grenergy will have a portfolio of 1.5 GW of solar capacity and 8.5 GWh of energy storage in the Oasis de Atacama project.
From pv magazine LatAm.