AES Andes acquires Bolero Solar Park in northern Chile for US$ 112.7 million

In the framework of advancing its strategy of making its operations focused on renewable energies, AES Andes announced the purchase of a photovoltaic plant with an installed capacity of 146 MW known as Parque Bolero Solar, which includes an electrical substation and a 220Kv transmission line. These facilities are located in the commune of Sierra Gorda, in the Atacama Desert, Antofagasta Region.

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As AES Andes explained to the Financial Market Commission (CMF), the transaction will have a value of US$ 112.7 million, where a part will be destined immediately to the capital contribution to Helio Atacama Tres SpA (HAT) to pay its debts with the banks, and the rest will be destined to the purchase of the shares of the companies behind the project, EDF EN Chile Holding SpA (50%) and Marubeni Corporation (50%).

"The sale of Bolero responds to a strategic decision of EDF Renewables, and is part of a reorganization process that seeks to diversify our assets in the country. In addition to the renewable power plants we have in operation, we have a diversified portfolio of renewable, storage and hydrogen projects under development," said the CEO of EDF Renewables Chile, Matías Steinacker, through a statement.

In this way, HAT will become a subsidiary of AES Andes and the latter will pay its debts with a syndicate of banks led by the bank Itaú Chile, according to the information detailed by the firm to the CMF.

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"The company will not consolidate new financial debt, since all of HAT's obligations with banks and financial institutions will be extinguished", said the deputy general manager of AES Andes, María Cerda.

AES Andes also pointed out that it is not yet possible to quantify the effects that the reported event will have on the company's results.

On the other hand, and by means of a press release, the power company detailed that Bolero East and Bolero West, with 60 MWp and 86 MWp of installed capacity, respectively. It has approximately 470,000 solar panels and is connected through a 3 km transmission line to the Laberinto substation, owned by AES Andes.

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"Its commercial operation began in April 2018 and its generation is equivalent to supplying the energy of 181,000 homes," he added.

Based on company figures, with Bolero Solar AES Andes will operate 249 MW solar, which includes Andes Solar I and IIA (103 MW). This is in addition to the projects currently under construction, such as Andes Solar IIb (180 MW) and Andes Solar IV (238 MW), which will have battery storage systems with capacities of 112 MW and 147 MW for 5 hours, respectively.