The T-Solar Group Signs up $145m to Fund its Projects in Peru

MADRID, December 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

• Total capex for the two power plants (44 MW) in Peru is over $165 m.

• Three Development Finance Institutions - OPIC (USA), FMO (Netherlands) and PROPARCO (France) - will be co-funding the projects alongside T-Solar.

• T-Solar has more than 230 MW under operation or construction in Spain, Italy, India and Peru.

The T-Solar Group ("T-Solar"), a major operator in the solar photovoltaic power generation market, is pleased to announce that it has signed three loan agreements for a total of $145m to finance two photovoltaic power plants with an aggregate capacity of 44 MW in Peru.

The two plants will be the first large-scale solar photovoltaic energy projects in Latin America. 113,600 thin-film amorphous hydrogenated-silicon modules produced by T-Solar's Orense, Spain factory will be deployed over 206 hectares of land in the Arequipa region in southern Peru. Isolux Corsán, T-Solar's parent company, has been retained as EPC contractor and will carry out construction works.

The two solar plants are expected to produce 80 GWh a year, enough electricity to supply 80,000 people.⁽¹⁾ Project construction will generate over 160 direct jobs amongst the local population. The plants are expected to be connected to the national grid by the second semester of 2012.

The total capital expenditure for the two projects is over $165m. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government agency promoting sustainable US investment abroad, will provide up to $131m in senior debt, partially guaranteed by Assured Guarantee, a US credit insurance company. The Netherlands' FMO and France's PROPARCO will lend up to $14.3m in mezzanine debt. T-Solar will fund the balance through equity. T-Solar was advised by Astris Finance, a US-based transaction advisory firm specialized in infrastructure and energy in emerging markets.

Latin America is an important target market for T-Solar. Given the region's high level of solar irraditaion and in the context of an increasing focus on energy transition and renewable energy, T-Solar expects the continent's strongest economies to provide interesting oportunities in the photovoltaic sector in the next 5 years.

⁽¹⁾Source: International Energy Agency Estimate

ABOUT T-SOLAR

T-Solar is a major independent producer of photovoltaic solar energy world-wide. A subsidiary of the Isolux Corsan Group, it has 173 MWp installed capacity already online in 43 plants located in Spain (34), Italy (8) and India (1), plus a further 55 MW under construction in India and Peru. Its solar photovoltaic plants generate over 250 GWh a year. This is equivalent to the average electricity consumption of a town with 51,000 households. T-Solar earned revenues of €110.2m in 2010. The company's 2010 business plan had a total capex of €1.16 bn. Its factory in Orense (Galicia, Spain) produces the largest PV modules in the market (5.7m2) using amorphous hydrogenated silicon thin-film technology to reduce costs and boost performance ratios. The factory is fully automated and fitted out with leading-edge technology. It has an output capacity of 50 MW a year, equivalent to 700,000 m²of solar panels. For further information, visit the website:  http://www.tsolar.com

SOURCE T-Solar Group