NEW YORK – March 24, 2022 –Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, advised oEnergy Holdings SpA in arranging an estimated $86.6 million financing for the construction of 24 photovoltaic projects in Chile.
oEnergy worked with the Corporación Interamericana para el Financiamiento de Infrastructura (CIFI) to structure the financing. The construction of these photovoltaic plants, with a total capacity of 72 MWp, will avoid an estimated total emission of 73,344 tons CO2eq per year into the atmosphere, according to CIFI’s press release. These projects will be part of a network of small renewable energy generation plants connected for distribution throughout Chile.
“When the construction of these 24 plants is completed, they will have a significant impact on Chile’s sustainability efforts and provide renewable energy to many more customers,” said Oscar Stephens, a Latin America Practice shareholder based in Greenberg Traurig’s New York office who led the firm’s team in the transaction. “Working collaboratively with our client, oEnergy, and CIFI, it was possible to structure and close a complex financing in a little more than two months, which is a benefit for all.”
In its release, CIFI explained that laws have been passed in Chile since 2004 to promote the use of renewable energy plants. These PMGD (pequeños medios de generacion distribuida or small means of distributed generation) figure prominently in the country’s energy sector. The small plants account for 4% of total capacity, with solar photovoltaic plants providing 74% of that capacity.
The other Greenberg Traurig team members working on this transaction were Tax Practice Shareholder Erez Tucner, Associate Mirae Park, and Corporate Law Clerk Sean O’Bryan, all based the firm’s in the New York office.