Allen & Overy acted as counsel to the Inter-American Development Corporation (IDB Invest) and Norway-based DNB Bank ASA (DNB) on their financing to Atlas Renewable Energy for the innovative project financing of a USD-linked power purchase agreement (PPA) for a portfolio of four solar projects in Brazil.
The loan from IDB Invest, partially sourced from its Clean Technology Fund and the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in the Americas – Phase II, totaled USD67 million and will be used to construct the 187 MW New Juazeiro (a.k.a. Jacarandá) solar power projects, which are being developed in the State of Bahia. The financing consisted of USDand BRL-linked tranches, and a novel unfunded risk participation with DNB. A critical part of A&O’s mandate was to structure a bankable solution around the risks related to the USD-index PPA.
The projects, which will use bifacial panels that provide clean energy to a Brazilian subsidiary of Dow Inc. under a 15-year PPA, are expected to generate a total of 440 Gigawatt hours per annum – enough energy to supply power to 750,000 homes. The projects could also prevent about 35,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, helping Latin America to advance its renewable energy goals.
“Our global deal team is proud to have had the opportunity to advise IDB Invest and DNB and leverage our market-leading expertise in the Latin American renewables sector to help structure and execute the New Juazeiro transaction, which is such a ground-breaking renewable energy project in Brazil,” said Sami Mir, a Washington, DC-based partner in A&O’s Projects, Energy and Infrastructure (PENRI) Group. “The financing is an important milestone in the industry that could unlock USD financings in Brazil, and over the coming weeks we look forward to announcing our role on other deals that provide similarly unique solutions to the energy transition throughout the Latin America region.”
The A&O team that advised IDB Invest and DNB was led by partner Sami Mir and associates Chris Jung, Jake Reed, Nicole Ubal and Nancy Canales in Washington, DC; senior counsel André de Paiva Teixeira in São Paulo; and senior counsel Simon Hayes and associate Krystyna Lopez in New York.
A separate A&O team, led by partner Joe Stefano and senior counsel Christine Steenman in New York, served as counsel for Citibank as offshore collateral agent and onshore account bank for the transaction, while a separate A&O team, led by partner Dorina Yessios in New York, also served as counsel for DNB as unfunded risk participant.
