Faro Energy receives R$ 105.8 million to build DG plants in Brazil

Faro Energy and Santander structured financing of R$ 105.8 million for the installation of 22 photovoltaic plants in seven Brazilian states (Ceará, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Piauí, Tocantins, Rio Grande do Norte and the Federal District).

The agreement, signed in the project finance modality, used for the development of large infrastructure investments, where the cash flow generated by the project is the main source of payment for the service and the amortization of third-party capital, was evaluated and certified by Bureau Veritas as a “Green Bond” operation in accordance with the Climate Bond Initiative criteria.

The transaction is one of the largest financings in the DG (distributed generation) sector only with guarantees from the projects themselves, in a structure known as non-recourse – without burdening the project shareholder's balance sheet – used internationally.

In total, the projects are expected to generate 68 thousand MWh annually. It is estimated that the projects will create direct and indirect jobs, with the qualification of local labor, both in the construction and operational phases.

Also according to Faro, the proximity to the final consumer will allow a reduction in losses in the transport of electrical energy of almost 10 thousand MWh/year, relieving the energy transmission system.

According to Pedro Araújo Mateus, CEO of Faro, this is the company's largest green title and one of the largest in Brazil in distributed solar generation. “Carrying out an operation of this size is very important for Faro Energy and the sector as a whole, which demonstrates that it is possible to carry out large debt issues as long as we have well-structured contracts with our customers, in addition to great technical rigor in construction and operation of the projects”, he commented.

“This operation is an important milestone in this regard, and reflects the market’s growing interest in giving greater scale to distributed generation technologies,” said Mark Laabs, CEO of Modern Energy, the parent company of Faro Energy.