Abengoa closes $660M project financing for Xina Solar One CSP plant
Abengoa announced today that it has closed $660 million non-recourse project financing for Xina Solar One, a 100 MW parabolic trough plant with a five-hour thermal energy storage system using molten salts, being built in South Africa.
Xina Solar One. Credit: Abengoa via Abeinsa.
Xina Solar One will be located in the Northern Cape Province, next to KaXu Solar One, the first solar thermal electricity (STE) power plant in commercial operation in South Africa. These two 100 MW plants will jointly shape the largest solar platform in sub-Saharan Africa, helping South Africa meet its ongoing energy demands and serving clean and reliable electricity.
The Solar STE plant Xina Solar One will produce clean and dispatchable energy to serve more than 95,000 households and will prevent the emission of 348,000 tons of CO2 per year. The clean electricity generated will be supplied to Eskom, South Africa’s power utility, under the 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in late 2014.
These financing agreements combine financing from development financial institutions such as the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, Industrial Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa; and local investment banks such as Absa member of Barclays, Nedbank and Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited.
With a total investment of approximately $880 million, construction of Xina Solar One started in 2014. Job creation will peak at over 1,300 positions during the construction phase, generating 45 permanent jobs for plant operation and maintenance.
Xina Solar One will belong to a consortium, 40 % of which is controlled by Abengoa. Other members of the consortium are IDC, PIC, and KaXu Community Trust.
Source: Abengoa closes USD 660 million project financing for Xina Solar One, 100 MW solar power plant in South Africa Press Release by Abengoa. Image Credit: Abengoa.
