Holland & Knight Advises Financers in Groundbreaking Colombian Solar Project

BOGOTÁ (March 12, 2020) –  Holland & Knight advised Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional S.A. (FDN), Colombia’s infrastructure development bank, and Banco Davivienda S.A. as lenders for the solar project Bosques de los Llanos 1. This represents the first project finance structure implemented in Colombia for a non-conventional renewable energy project. The deal closed on March 9.

In the financing of the project, FDN and Banco Davivienda contributed equally toward a senior loan of up to $44,700 million Colombian pesos (US$10.9 million). The project’s sponsor is China’s Trina Solar Energy Spain, a subsidiary of Changzhou Trina Solar Energy, the world’s second largest solar panel company. Ernst & Young acted as Trina’s advisor in the deal.

The Bosques de los Llanos 1 solar park, located in Puerto Gaitán in the department of Meta, is scheduled to be completed in May 2020. The project will have a peak installed generation capacity of 27.2MW and a nominal installed capacity of 19.9MW.

“We are very proud to have advised the FDN and Davivienda on this project, which undoubtedly marks a milestone in the unconventional energy sector in Colombia,” said Lucas Saffon-López, the Holland & Knight partner who led the deal.

Mr. Saffon-López was assisted by Senior Counsel María Juliana Saa.