Verano Capital, an American project developer headquartered in Santiago, recently announced the 47 MW solar project it initially developed was selected in Chile’s latest energy tender with a winning bid at $25.38/MWh, the lowest 24/7 block price combining solar and wind ever recorded in the history of energy tenders.
The winning bid was offered by a solar project that will be coupled with wind projects to offer a 24/7 supply over a 20-year period.
Dylan Rudney, CEO of Verano Capital, who originally designed and developed the solar project before partnering with the fund who eventually took the project to bid, expressed his satisfaction with the results of the tender.
“It was an extremely competitive tender,” he said. “Contracts were awarded at an average price of $32.50/MWh, which represents a 75 percent drop from the peak of $130/MWh reached in the 2013 tenders. These are the lowest renewable energy prices we have ever seen on a 24/7 energy auction anywhere in the world. This will be most directly beneficial to Chilean energy consumers, but it also underpins the changing trend in the energy industry, where conventional energy sources are no longer able to compete with increasingly low renewable energy costs.”
%%1217-Verano%%
Verano Capital, whose core business is to offer turnkey development, EPC, O&M, and asset management services to investment funds, has ambitious growth plans going forward. Verano is the leader in the PMGD* development market in Chile, with five operating utility-scale projects and five more to be commissioned in 2017. In addition, the company has more than 20 projects seeking equity under development, representing a 150 MW pipeline to be commissioned over the next 18 months.
Verano, which has offices in Chile, Argentina, and the U.S., is set to expand to Colombia this year. It also submitted a project totaling 100 MW in Argentina’s upcoming renewable energy tender.
“Our plan is to continue to strengthen our position in the booming Latin American renewable energy sector,” Rudney said. “Our broad range of in-house capabilities enables us to deliver complete projects, from early stage development all the way through to operation and maintenance.”
*PMGD projects (from the Spanish acronym, Pequeños Medios de Generación Distribuida) refers to projects with an installed capacity up to 9 MW and a connection to the distribution grid. Under the PMGD regime, projects get automatic grid access with a no curtailment guarantee, transmission toll reductions, as well as access to the stabilized pricing scheme.
Source: Verano Capital
For more information, go to veranocapital.com
