GE Energy Financial Services secured $150 million project financing to refinance and expand the Los Guindos open-cycle thermoelectric power plant in central Chile.

This is a milestone for GE Energy Financial Services, 75% owner of the existing 139-megawatt open-cycle Los Guindos Power Plant, and its local co-owner, The Ingelec Group, which operates the plant. The expansion of the power plant will nearly double its overall capacity to approximately 275 megawatts with the installation of a second GE 9E.03 turbine, equipped with dual gas-liquid fuel combustion system, DLN emissions control, A39 generator and control systems, for increased power and performance.

The transaction was jointly led by MUFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking (SMBC) and Natixis, with Banco BICE providing a peso-denominated VAT facility. The financing is being used in part to fund the expansion of the power plant, but also to optimize the capital structure by refinancing the existing local market debt facility.

GE Energy Financial Services’ Global Capital Advisory (GCA) team, which sources financing from third parties including export credit agencies, development finance institutions and other equity providers and commercial banks, led the debt raise on behalf of the sponsors.

Bob Psaradellis, head of GCA at GE Energy Financial Services, said, “This transaction marks another milestone for our successful partnership with The Ingelec Group. With revenue for Los Guindos underpinned by long-term stable capacity payments, it made sense to look to international lenders that are active in longer tenors to provide this financing. GE’s strong global relationship with these institutions helped to ensure the right outcome.”

Los Guindos has been in operation since July 2015 and was developed and constructed by subsidiaries of The Ingelec Group, a leading player in the construction of energy infrastructure projects in Latin America including power plants, transmission lines and sub-stations. GE Energy Financial Services acquired a 75% stake in the project from The Ingelec Group in February 2016, with a strategic plan to increase capacity. The expansion work will be undertaken by Inprolec, the EPC subsidiary of The Ingelec Group.

Upon completion of the expansion in spring 2019, Los Guindos will continue to benefit from the regulated capacity market regime in Chile, which was designed to provide a stable supply of backup power to supplement the intermittent sources of renewable energy in the region, in particular hydro and increasingly wind and solar.