NEOEN SA (EPA:NEOEN) - NEOEN closes financing for Capella Solar, a 140 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant in El Salvador

Transparency directive : regulatory news

27/11/2018 20:29

MEDIA RELEASE

Paris & San Salvador, November 27, 2018

Neoen closes financing for Capella Solar, a 140 MWp solar photovoltaic power
plant in El Salvador

* Capella Solar is the second project that Neoen will soon operate in El
  Salvador after Neoen's teams capitalized on the experience gained in the 101
  MWp Providencia Solar project commissioned in 2017
* FMO, IDB Invest and Proparco are providing the project's senior debt
* The power plant will be connected to a 3 MW/1.5 MWh lithium-ion battery
  system, making it the largest energy storage installation to be rolled out in
  Central America to date
* 3% of the power plant's annual revenues will go to FUSAL, a not-for-profit
  foundation that runs social projects in El Salvador

Neoen (ISIN Code: FR0011675362, Ticker: NEOEN), France's leading independent
producer of renewable energy, and one of the fastest-growing worldwide, is
today announcing that it has sealed financing for Capella, a 140 MWp solar
photovoltaic project in El Salvador. The facility is wholly-owned by Neoen and
is due to be commissioned in early 2020.

FMO, the Dutch Development Bank, and IDB Invest, acting as co-lead arrangers,
and Proparco are providing the senior debt for the project, representing a
total investment of 133 million USD. The figure includes the cost of a 3 MW/1.5
MWh LG Chem lithium-ion battery system, which will be installed by Nidec
separately and connected to deliver grid services in order to smooth the
integration of the renewable plant. The project will be built by a consortium
consisting of TSK and Gensun.

Neoen won the project through a competitive public-tender held in 2016 and
organized by Delsur, one of El Salvador's largest electricity distributors.
Capella Solar was awarded a 20-year power purchase agreement denominated in US
Dollars with local distributors Delsur, AES, EDESAL and B&D at the
below-grid-parity price of US$49.6/MWh. The contractually supplied electricity
will thus be the most competitively priced ever in the Salvadoran energy
market.

Paolo Cartagena, Neoen's Managing Director in El Salvador, commented: "Capella
is a fantastic project with excellent irradiation levels and very attractive
interconnection conditions. By harnessing the experience gained from
Providencia Solar, our first project in the country we have been able to
propose an extremely competitive price thanks to our deep understanding of the
local market, structuring improvements and enhanced reputation. Capella Solar
perfectly fulfills the regional development goals we set for ourselves - it is
a project able to generate green electricity for the local population at a
highly competitive tariff and to contribute to local social development through
our partner FUSAL. I am tremendously grateful to the Salvadoran Government, the
National Energy Council (Consejo Nacional de Energía) and Gustavo Simán, our
local partner, for their unstinting support throughout the development of our
project."

Xavier Barbaro, Neoen's Chairman and CEO, added: "Arranging financing for
Capella represents another major step forward for Neoen. It underlines our
status as the country's number one independent producer of green energy, with a
total of 244 MW in service and under construction in El Salvador. It also
demonstrates the benefit of our effective strategy of geographical expansion,
which consists in establishing leadership positions in target regions and
countries. Our ability to innovate also sets us apart. Capella Solar will
provide a reliable stream of electricity to the power grid with its integrated
battery system. That will help clear the way for additional renewable capacity
to be added to the Salvadoran market. I would like to sincerely thank our
teams, FMO, IDB, Proparco, and all our partners for supporting us throughout
this project."

"We are pleased and honoured to expand our solar investments in El Salvador
with Neoen, a producer well- known to FMO", said Ewout van der Molen, FMO
manager Energy Latin America & Caribbean. "As Capella Solar combines a 100%
renewable energy project with strong positive climate impacts and benefits for
the local community, it fully aligns with our strategic ambitions."

"The financing of Capella represents a key milestone for El Salvador as the
project will have the most competitive PPA price in the market, setting a
positive precedent for the upcoming energy auctions and by contributing to the
diversification of the energy matrix by adding renewable energy sources", added
Javier Rodriguez de Colmenares, Chief of the Infrastructure and Energy Division
at IDB Invest. "IDB Invest is proud to support Neoen, one of our key clients in
the region, in the financing of its second large scale PV project in El
Salvador. Back in 2016, Neoen and IDB Invest worked together for the
development of Providencia, the first large scale PV project in the country,
establishing the benchmark PPA for the projects to come".

"We are very happy to support Neoen, a French company with a worldwide
reputation in the field of renewable energies, for the third time in Latin
America. Their contribution to the fight against climate change and their
commitment to supporting local communities make them a key partner of Proparco
for the development of the region", concluded Grégory Clemente, Chief
Executive Officer of Proparco.

About Neoen

Founded in 2008, Neoen is France's leading and one of the world's most dynamic
independent producers (IPP) of renewable energy. With a current capacity of
more than 2 GW already in operation or under construction, and a further 1 GW
of projects formally awarded and secured, Neoen has doubled its size in over
just 18 months. Neoen is active in France, Australia, El Salvador, Zambia,
Jamaica, Portugal, Mexico, Mozambique, Finland and Argentina and has assets in
more than 15 countries. It operates Europe's most powerful solar PV farm (300
MW in Cestas, France) and the world's largest lithium-ion power reserve in
Hornsdale, Australia (100 MW/129 MWh storage capacity). At the end of 2017,
Neoen won one of the largest (375 MW) and the most competitive solar project in
Mexico. Neoen is targeting 5 GW capacity in operation and under construction by
2021. Neoen (ISIN Code: FR0011675362, ticker: NEOEN) is listed since October
2018 on the Compartment A of the regulated market of Euronext Paris.

For more information: www.neoen.com

About IDB Invest

IDB Invest, the private sector institution of the Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB) Group, is a multilateral development bank committed to supporting
Latin America and the Caribbean businesses. It finances sustainable enterprises
and projects to achieve financial results that maximize economic, social and
environmental development for the region. With a current portfolio of over
US$11.2 billion under management and over 330 clients in 25 countries, IDB
Invest works across sectors to provide innovative financial solutions and
advisory services that meet the evolving demands of its clients. As of November
2017, IDB Invest is the trade name of the Inter-American Investment
Corporation.

For further information, please visit: www.idbinvest.org

About Proparco

Proparco is a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) focused
on private sector development. It has been promoting sustainable economic,
social and environmental development practices for the past 40 years. Proparco
provides funding and support to both businesses and financial institutions
across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle-East. It seeks to partner
projects in key development sectors - infrastructure (with a specific focus on
renewable energies), agribusiness, financial institutions, healthcare and
education, etc. - and to boost the contribution of the private sector to
achieving the sustainable development goals adopted by the international
community in 2015. As a means to this end, Proparco finances businesses that
are instrumental in creating decent jobs that pay decent wages, in supplying
essential goods and services and in battling climate change.

For more information, please visit:
www.proparco.fr/en or follow us on Twitter: @Proparco

About FMO

FMO is the Dutch development bank. As a leading impact investor, FMO supports
sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets
by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO believes that a
strong private sector leads to economic and social development, and has a more
than 45-year proven track-record of empowering people to employ their skills
and improve their quality of life. FMO focuses on three sectors that have high
development impact: financial institutions, energy, and agribusiness, food &
water. With a committed portfolio of EUR 9.2 billion spanning over 90
countries, FMO is one of the larger bilateral private sector developments banks
globally. For more information: please visit www.fmo.nl

Media contact

Havas Paris for Neoen
Hugo Boussier
T: +33 6 86 72 53 31
hugo.boussier@havas.com

Proparco
Romain Esperon
presse@proparco.fr

Investors
Neoen
Axelle Vuillermet
T: +33 7 77 68 62 34
axelle.vuillermet@neoen.com

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NEOEN SA (EPA:NEOEN) - NEOEN closes financing for Capella Solar, a 140 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant in El Salvador

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