Activity:
Design, construction and operation of several wind farms
Total investment:
Up to a maximum of EUR 24,2 MM
Promoter:
WPD Wind Investment S.L.
Resources:
FIEX
Sector:
Energy
Geographical area:
Latin America and Caribbean
COFIDES aspires to further climate projects that help mitigate climate change, in line with the company’s firm commitment to attaining Agenda 2030 objectives and the UN’s sustainable development goals.
One such project, headed by the Spanish company WPD Wind Investment, will build three wind farms in Chile. The project features COFIDES’s cooperation and coordination with Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), our sister development finance institution in Germany that shares the determination to foster renewable power generation and contribute to the use of cleaner and more sustainable energy.
In 2020 COFIDES acquired EUR 24.2 million in the share capital of three Chilean wind farms (Malleco, Lomas de Duqueco and Negrete) on behalf of FIEX, Spain’s foreign investment fund. The two development finance institutions, COFIDES and DEG, each took a temporary 24.5 % holding in three special purpose vehicles (SPVs), owners of three wind farms in that country. The holdings were purchased from the Spanish company WPD Wind Investment, which kept the majority interest in the three SPVs. A total of over EUR 500 million has been invested in these projects.
“The farms are the outcome of the company’s firm commitment to developing facilities that generate clean and sustainable energy. Their construction prioritised minimisation of the impact on the environment and consistent collaboration and engagement with governmental authorities, local communities in particular, with whom permanent contact was established and remains in place"
Óscar Castañeda, WPD Wind Investment General Manager.
The Negrete and Malleco wind farms were commissioned in 2021 and Lomas de Duqueco is expected to be operational in 2022. Negrete and Lomas de Duqueco are in Bíobío and Malleco in the Araucanía region. These three farms, which contribute to non-polluting energy generation in Chile, are compatible with area farming and livestock raising. At 370 MW, their combined installed capacity will supply sufficient energy for 460 000 households. A total of 77 Vestas turbines have been installed at Malleco, 15 at Lomas de Duqueco and 11 at Negrete.
These wind projects will help attain the objectives defined in the National Road Map 2050, in which renewable energies play an essential role for the Chilean economy. Malleco farm will be one of the largest such facilities in Chile and one of the most significant in all of Latin America.
Further to the Common Principles for Climate Mitigation Finance Tracking established by the Joint Climate Finance Tracking Group, a multilateral development banks body, and a group of representatives of the International Development Finance Club member banks, this project is deemed eligible for climate change mitigation funding.
“Contributing from COFIDES to mitigating climate change by supporting renewable energyfuelled generation projects that will have a beneficial effect on Chile’s economy and favour regional sustainability is highly gratifying. And doing in partnership with investors committed to renewable energies such as COFIDES’s sister institution DEG affords even greater satisfaction”
Mª Ángeles Vara, project analyst.
With this project, which will lessen yearly CO2 emissions by 711 078 t, COFIDES contribute to the change in economic structures identified by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as necessary to ensure achievement of the Paris Agreement goals.
Related SDGs
