Enel Green Power SpA (“Enel Green Power”), acting through its Brazilian subsidiary Enel Brasil Participações Ltda. (“Enel Brazil”), the controlling holding company of Brazilian subsidiaries of the Enel Green Power Group, and Itaú Unibanco S.A. (“Itaú”), a Brazilian bank, signed a 10-year term loan agreement for over 260 million Brazilian Reais (approximately 100 million US dollars).
The loan with Itaú, arranged by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will cover part of the investment to construct over 260 MW of wind power in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte, located in the Northeast of Brazil.
The loan announced today comes on top of the 200 million US dollar Brazilian Real-linked loan closed in May 2014 on IFC’s own account, in support of Enel Green Power’s wind power development projects in those States.
“It is testament to Enel Green Power’s solid business model and financial strength that we are able to attract top quality financing partners such as Itaú and IFC as we continue to build on our position in Brazil”, stated Giulio Carone, Chief Financial Officer of Enel Green Power. “In this country we have reached nearly 300 MW of installed wind and hydro capacity, and have been recently awarded with over 450 MW from wind and solar in two auctions in a row, in addition to more than 300 MW of projects already in execution across all three technologies.”
“Through the combination of Itaú’s experience in project finance and our close partnership with IFC, we successfully concluded another important renewable energy financing, which is one of our target sectors to support in Brazil”, said Marcelo Girão, Head of Project Finance for the power sector at Itaú BBA, the Corporate and Investment Bank of Itaú Unibanco holding.
“IFC is excited to have Itaú, a long-term client and partner, joining us to support Enel Green Power’s plan to expand generation of wind power in Brazil”, said Cheryl Edleson Hanway, IFC Brazil Head of Infrastructure. “The diversification of power generation sources has become a pressing factor for Brazil’s economic growth and increased competitiveness. This investment will also support the development of the Northeast region and job creation”.
The 10-year term loan with Itaú contains the same terms of IFC’s 200 million US dollar loan; it bears an interest rate in line with the market benchmark.
Enel Green Power is the Enel Group company fully dedicated to the development and management of renewable energy sources at the international level, with operations in Europe, the Americas and Africa. The company generated over 29 billion kWh in 2013 from water, sun, wind and the Earth’s heat – enough to meet the energy needs of more than 10 million households and avoid the emission of approximately 16 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Enel Green Power is a world leader in the sector thanks to its well-balanced generation mix, providing generation volumes well over the sector average. As of September 30th, 2014, the company has an installed capacity of approximately 9,500 MW from a mix of sources including wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal and biomass. The company has about 750 plants operating in 18 countries in Europe, the Americas and Africa.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In FY14, we provided more than 22 billion US dollars in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development.
Itaú Unibanco is the largest privately owned bank in Latin America. Its vision is “to be the leading bank in sustainable performance and customer satisfaction”. To realize this, it established a set of 10 corporate culture attitudes to guide its teams. Itaú Unibanco’s main operations are: commercial banking (insurance, pension plan and capitalization products, credit cards, asset management, credit products and services for individuals and small companies); wholesale banking (Itaú BBA – corporate and investment banking – and middle-market companies); and consumer credit (financial products and services to non-account holders). Its operations are mainly in Brazil, but its international presence enables it to provide high-quality service to local clients and Brazilians abroad. It is present in 19 countries outside of Brazil. Itaú Unibanco is listed on the BM&FBovespa, Buenos Aires and New York stock exchanges (ITUB).
