Year: 2019
Winner: Natixis
Natixis was a leading player in Mexico’s renewable energy loan market this past year, providing financing for a range of projects from solar to wind farms.
By far, the most ambitious was Enel’s Green Power’s Villanueva I and III solar plants and the Don Jose renewable energy initiative in Mexico. The 469 MV Villanueva I and 359 MW Villanueva III are located in the northern region of Coahuila, while the 238 MW Don Jose was built in Guanajuato.
The 992 MW capacity of the solar portfolio makes this financing the biggest renewable deal in Mexico. The projects will sell their energy and clean energy certificates (CELs) under a 20-year PPA with Comisión Federal de Electricidad. Natixis was a bookrunner for the 18-year, $610 million project finance loan.
Another notable project was the El Llano project, a 375MWp solar PV power plant to be built in Mexico’s Aguascalientes region, Mexico. Natixis participated in the syndicated $300 million loan for project sponsor Neoen, a French producer of renewable energy.
In the Yucatán Peninsula, Natixis and Crédit Agricole provided a $110 million secured short-term loan to Energía Renovable de la Península for a 90 MW wind farm. The Península wind farm started operations in the first quarter this year.
Vive Energía developed the Península project with its partner, China’s Envision Energy, after winning 15-year clean energy certificates and 20-year power purchase agreements from Mexico’s wholesale power administrator Cenace in the first long-term power auction in March 2016.
Bow Power, a joint venture between Spain’s ACS and the US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), entered the project through a partnership with Envision in July last year.