Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises development finance institutions on the financing of a USD 88,5 million loan for the construction and operation of a wind farm in Uruguay

International law firm Clifford Chance is advising the lenders on the financing of a USD 88,5 million 15-year loan granted to the company Polesine S.A., a subsidiary of Akuo Energy S.A.S., to finance the construction and operation of a wind farm in Uruguay. The Lenders were PROPARCO, which arranged the financing, FMO and DEG, respectively the French, Dutch and German development finance institutions.

This new 50 MW wind farm, with a total cost of USD 128 million, is located in the Florida region, 100 km North of the capital, Montevideo. Commissioning, scheduled to occur in November 2013, will strengthen the energy supply in Uruguay and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.

Claude Périou, CEO of PROPARCO, said: "Both as partner and leader of the European bilateral financial institutions, PROPARCO is proud to support the Akuo Energy group, which is eager to contribute to the diversification of the Uruguayan energy sources by widening its scope internationally".

"We're delighted to have advised the lenders on this financing, which – for PROPARCO – is their first direct lending in Uruguay. This transaction confirms Clifford Chance's position as the leading international law firm for renewables projects in Uruguay, where we are currently also advising lenders and sponsors on four other wind projects" commented Ross Howard.

The Clifford Chance team was led by Nikolaï Eatwell (Partner) and Ross Howard (Counsel), and comprised Patrizia Nowakowski and Kadiatou Ba in Paris, Fabricio Longhin (Partner) and Alberto Haito in Washington DC, Florian Mahler (Partner), Axel Schlieter and Natalie Hsiao in Düsseldorf, and Matthew Mulqueen and Edward Bretherton in London.