Spanish IPP Grenergy has achieved the financial close of phase 1 and 2 of its Oasis de Atacama project in Chile, which will eventually feature the world’s largest battery energy storage system.
With a capacity of 4.1 GWh in storage and about 1 GW of solar, Oasis the Atacama is divided into five phases. Currently under construction, the Quillagua connection – phase 1 – is scheduled to get off the ground by the end of 2024, while the next three phases are to be connected during 2025.
On Wednesday, Grenergy said that it had signed a $345 million green loan with other complementary credit lines with the financial institutions BNP Paribas, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Societe Generale, The Bank of Nova Scotia, and SMBC.
This financing covers the first two phases of the project, corresponding to 220 MWp of solar and 1.24 GWh of storage.
With this new agreement, Grenergy said that it had become the first company globally to sign financing of this size for a hybrid solar and battery project with a syndicate of international banks.
Grenergy’s Executive Chairman, David Ruiz de Andrés, said that “this operation demonstrates the bank’s confidence in the hybridization of solar plants with storage, and in Grenergy’s business model, which continues to make progress in becoming a world leader in storage.”
The project, to which Grenergy will allocate up to $1.4 billion, already has 75% of its energy contracted through various long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).
