SANTIAGO – AES Gener has announced the sale of four of its operating power plants, with a total capacity of 750MW, in Chile to Generadora Metropolitana, a joint venture between French energy group EDF and Chilean power producer Andes Mining & Energy (AME) for $300m.
The concerned parties entered into the transaction in late December 2017.
The four power plants that are part of the sale are the 379MW Nueva Renca natural-gas combined-cycle power plant and the three peaking power plants – 132MW Los Vientos, 139MW Santa Lidia and 100MW Renca.
EDF said that the acquired flexible generation assets will allow the company to further develop renewable energy projects in Chile by making up for fluctuations in wind and solar generation.
Gran momento en #renca con el traspaso entre @aesgener y los nuevos dueños de la planta @EDFofficiel y AME. Primer día para una nueva empresa que se llama Generadora Metropolitana. @GeneradorasCL pic.twitter.com/Sl64LROtgs
— EDF en Chile (@EDF_Chile) May 12, 2018
The four power plants are jointly owned with AME, said EDF which added that 75% of the transaction was funded through various bank loans.
The partners now intend to upgrade the power plants with an objective to maximize their efficiency and environmental performance.
EDF international division group executive vice-president Marianne Laigneau said: “With this acquisition, the EDF Group is consolidating its position in Chile and is acquiring flexible assets in order to deliver on the expansion of its solar business, which it has already embarked upon with its partner AME.
“Chile is one of the key countries where EDF is expanding its business in line with its CAP2030 strategy which seeks to triple our business outside of Europe by 2030.”
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EDF said that alongside AME, it is consolidating the collaborative relationship and position on the Chilean electricity market by executing the joint acquisition.
The two companies are also partners in the 115MW Santiago Solar peaking power plant, Central el Campesino, a gas-to-power project made up of a combined-cycle plant and GNL Penco, a LNG storage/regasification infrastructure.
Earlier, this month, the EDF Group had acquired the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm project in Scotland from Mainstream Renewable Power. The Scottish offshore wind farm, which is planned to be commissioned in 2023, will be built with an investment of £1.8bn.
