CEPU to buy Cafayate solar
Local utility Central Puerto has signed a deal to buy the 80MW Cafayate solar farm in Salta from Canadian Solar for roughly US$50m amid a spending spree across Argentina.
The deal involves the purchase of shares in Fieldfare Argentina SRL, which owns and operates the plant. Close is expected on September 2, pending customary regulatory approvals.
The scheme was financed in late 2018 via a US$50m non-recourse project financing. Latin American development bank CAF arranged the deal, which featured a US$30m CAF A-loan with a 15-year tenor, a US$15m parallel loan from Argentine investment and foreign trade bank BICE with a 15-year tenor, and a US$5m loan from Banco de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires with a 10-year tenor.
The project, operating since 2019, has a 20-year power purchase agreement with wholesale power market administrator Cammesa won during a RenovAR auction that was priced at US$56.28/MWh. This 20-year PPA is guaranteed by the World Bank.
IPP CEPU recently announced a US$520m investment plan, which includes the plan to buy Cafayate and four other major prongs.
Upcoming investments also include the 150MW Nuevo Puerto and 55MW Costanera battery energy storage systems requiring US$260m combined in Buenos Aires. The projects will enter construction this year, with commercial operation coming in 2026.
The company will also construct the 111MW Alamitos wind farm, near its existing La Genoveva I scheme in Bahia Blanca. With an investment of US$140m, it is expected to be operational by the end of 2027.
Plans also include the expansion of the Brigadier Lopez Power Plant in Santa Fe to 432MW from 292MW. Completion is scheduled for December 2025.
There will also be the construction of the first 15MW San Carlos solar park in Salta, a few kilometres from Cafayate, which is expected to come online by the end of November 2025 following US$20m investment.
