Electrica Puntilla nears financial close on Nuble hydroelectric project

Electrica Puntilla has announced that it will close on the finance of the 136 MW Nuble hydroelectric project in southern Chile by July 15th.

Following Banco de Chile and Banco del Estado's approval (earlier this month) of a syndicated loan of US$260 million for construction as well as a US$59 million line of credit for associated taxes, Electrica Puntilla and its creditors agreed to shift the loan contract signing deadline to July 15th.

With a total investment cost of US$350 million, the run-of-river Nuble hydroelectric plant will have a generating capacity of 136 MW, producing an estimated 620 GWh of electricity annually.

Chile's Vial y Vives and Andritz Group of Austria have been given contracts totaling US$257 million to build and equip the project.

Located on the Nuble River in San Fabian (Bio Bio region), construction of the plant began in October 2014, with operation expected to begin in 2017.

In addition, Electrica Puntilla formed a joint venture in March 2015 with Sistema de Transmision del Sur to build and operate a transmission line for the site.

With six operating run-of-river hydro plants and seven more in the development pipeline, Electrica Puntilla expects to increase its current capacity of 74 MW to a total of roughly 500 MW in the near future.