Babilonia consolidates Zelestra’s 16-year presence in the country, and forms part of the La Joya solar complex in Arequipa, which will have a total planned capacity of nearly 700 MW. This includes Zelestra’s operational 300 MW San Martín plant and the 125 MW San Joaquin project, which is in advanced development.

The project was enabled by a long-term power purchase agreement with Celepsa, a leading company in the Peruvian electricity sector.

Delivery of the Babilonia, which started construction last month, is being led by Zelestra’s internal EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) division. The project will support more than 500 direct jobs during construction, and it will produce enough clean energy to supply approximately 350,000 Peruvian homes when operational.

“The green financing package for Babilonia is a significant transaction for Zelestra” said Xavier Puig, CFO of Zelestra. “This agreement reaffirms the confidence that major global financial partners have in our customer-first strategy and our project execution capabilities in multiple markets. Our internal EPC division recently kicked off the construction programme, and we look forward to delivering the energy on time for our customer Celepsa.”

Zelestra is a leading renewable energy player in Perú, with 600 MW of projects in operation or construction, and a pipeline for growth of more than 1.5 GW.

“The financial close of Project Babilonia marks an important milestone for Peru’s renewable energy sector” added BBVA Perú. “At BBVA, we are pleased to support Zelestra in this innovative green financing transaction, reinforcing our commitment to sustainable finance and to the development of clean energy infrastructure in the country.”

Aitor Alava, Head of Infrastructure & Energy Finance LatAm at Natixis CIB, said that the financing of the key asset is the latest in a series of three significant projects on which Natixis CIB has worked with Zelestra Latam in recent months.

“The collaboration underscores Natixis CIB's deep commitment to Zelestra and to driving energy infrastructure growth across Latin America” added Mr Alava.

For additional information:

Zelestra