IDB finances 60 MW PV project in Mexico with $37 million

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group has agreed to provide Spanish solar project developer, X-Elio, a unit of global infrastructure fund KKR, with US$37 million in funds for the construction of a 60 MW solar power plant in the state of Guanajuato, in central Mexico.

The IDB said that the financial package includes a loan of $12.8 million from the Official Credit Institute (ICO) of Spain, a credit facility of $7.8 million from Japan’s largest financial services provider, MUFG Bank, a $9.6 million IDB Invest loan, and two more loans, one totaling $3.6 million from the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector of the Americas (C2F) and another worth $3.2 million from the Chinese Fund for the Co-financing of the Americas.

The project, said the IDB, was awarded in one of the power auctions held by the Mexican government, without providing further details. It will sell electricity to the national grid of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) under a 15-year contract, while also selling clean energy certificates over a 20-year period.

X-Elio is currently planning to deploy around 244 MW (DC) of PV in Mexico, all of which is coming from three large-scale projects selected under Mexico’s auction mechanism, including the 60 MW (AC) plant in Guanajuato. Another 92 MW (DC) facility, for which the IDB is also considering providing financing, is being planned in the state of Chihuahua, while a third 81 MW (DC) project is being developed in the municipality of Xoxocotla, in the state of Veracruz.