Atlas Renewable Energy Gets $210 million For 438 MW Solar Project in Brazil

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Global renewable player Atlas Renewable Energy has secured a loan of $210 million from Brazil’s Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) to finance its Boa Sorte solar project which is of 438 MW in capacity.

Atlas said that this marks the first time that BNDES has executed a US dollar-indexed loan to a renewable energy project. “We hope that this is the first of many operations in which the BNDES can finance companies using the dollar as a reference,” said the Infrastructure Credit Director, Solange Paiva Vieria.

The official statement of Atlas mentioned that this financing sets a new precedent for project financing in Brazil, making it available for projects with dollar-denominated PPAs specifically designed for large Brazilian companies which are large exporters.

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The deal is also particularly significant given the new regulation under Law # 14,286 / 2021 that allows exporters to enter into USD PPAs with companies that hold authorizations, which is the case of energy trading companies, said Atlas.

Luis Pita, General Manager for Atlas Renewable Energy in Brazil, said, “The fact that BNDES has issued this loan is a testament to the growing importance of renewable energy globally and in Brazil and the significant role that companies like Atlas are playing in driving this transition.”

“With the introduction of Law 14,286/21, known as the Foreign Exchange Law, as of December 31, 2022, agents in the electricity sector will be able to trade energy through PPAs linked to the dollar. This new framework allows electro-intensive exporting companies to reduce their risk to exchange rate fluctuations, given that their products are traded in dollars and the electricity consumed, being an important input to produce goods, can also be purchased at prices linked to the dollar,” said Daniel Barreto, superintendent of the BNDES Energy Area.

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The Boa Sorte solar power project will be built in the State of Minas Gerais of Brazil that will provide clean energy to a client from the Brazilian industrial sector, under a 20-year PPA, said Atlas. The plant will have an installed capacity of 438 MW, which will generate 815 GWh of power annually. This is equivalent to providing clean energy to more than 394,000 homes and offsets more than 61,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.