IDB Invest, a member of the IDB Group, provided a $28.1 million financing with a 20-year term for the refinancing of the Natelu and Yarnel photovoltaic solar plants in Uruguay. These plants are located in Young, in the department of Río Negro, and Mercedes, in the department of Soriano. The projects are owned by the company Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente, S.A., a Spanish multinational dedicated to electricity generation based on solar energy.

The financing includes the issuance of a senior B bond, acquired in its entirety by MetLife Investment Management customers, and represents the fourth bond that IDB Invest issues to finance renewable energy in Uruguay. The Natelu and Yarnel plants, which have been in operation since July and June 2017 respectively, generate approximately 32.9 GWh of renewable energy a year, which means an annual average reduction of 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Both installations represent 22.7 MWp of solar capacity in the energy matrix and sell the energy to the state company Administración Nacional de Usinas y Transmisiones Eléctricas (UTE) for the next 23 years.

During the project’s lifespan, 400,000 tons of carbon emissions will be displaced. The solar plants will contribute to the country’s objective to add new sources of electricity from renewable energies and increase the diversification of the Uruguayan energy matrix. Uruguay is an international example of how to successfully transform the energy matrix of a country.

IDB Invest’s $28.1 million financial package consists of $2.8 million of its own resources and the issuance of a B bond in the private market for $25.3 million, pending to fulfill previous conditions. The financing structure with B bonds facilitates the development of an alternative financing source through the capital markets. The combination of both types of financing allows IDB Invest to contribute to the mobilization of a larger number of institutional, local and international investors, and also helps to manage a largest amount of resources in the renewable energy sector.

The operation potentially contributes to three UN Sustainable Development Goals: Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Climate Action (SDG 13) and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17).