Atlas Renewable Energy secures loan for 359MWp solar plant in Brazil

Latin America-focused solar developer Atlas Renewable Energy has obtained a US$150 million loan to finance the construction of its 359MWp Lar do Sol – Casablanca PV project in Brazil.
The funding was secured from IDB Invest, which is the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Norwegian financial services group DNB Bank.
Set to be developed in the state of Minas Gerais, Lar do Sol – Casablanca will feature 880,000 bifacial modules, generate 805GWh per year and supply power to mining company Anglo American through a 15-year power purchase agreement announced last year.
The loan transaction followed a similar format to recent financing for Atlas’s 187MWp Jacaranda solar plant, which is under construction in the Brazilian state of Bahia and is also financed by IDB Invest and DNB Bank.
Atlas CEO Carlos Barrera said the two institutions have become “important allies in structuring innovative financing solutions” to help in the transition to renewables. He added: “We look forward to continue accelerating the Brazilian market’s renewable energy potential in a sustainable manner, while providing the best-in-class solutions to large energy consumers.”
Miami-headquartered Atlas Renewable Energy was launched in 2017 and is owned by UK-based investment firm Actis. The developer currently has four operational PV projects in Brazil with a combined capacity of more than 420MW. It also has solar portfolios in Chile, Mexico and Uruguay.
A deal announced last month will see utility-scale battery energy storage systems deployed at Atlas’s renewables projects as part of a collaboration with Hitachi ABB Power Grids.