The conglomerate Interenergy has acquired a 55% stake in Pedregal, a plant in Pacora, Panama Province, which generates energy from diesel.
Friday, August 28, 2015
From the press release by Interenergy:
New York, August, 2015] –Conduit Capital Partners (“Conduit”) and InterEnergy Holdings (“InterEnergy”) announced today that InterEnergy Holdings has purchased interests in two companies owned by Latin Power III, a $392 million private equity fund managed by Conduit. InterEnergy purchased Latin Power III’s 55% ownership in Pedregal, a 55MW diesel plant based in Pacora, Panama. InterEnergy also purchased Latin Power III’s 100% interest in Jamaica Energy Partners and West Kingston Power Partners, which are based in Kingston, Jamaica and collectively operate three plants with 190 MW of diesel capacity which supply 30% of the electricity on the island of Jamaica. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The acquisition marks InterEnergy’s return to Jamaica after a six-year hiatus. Its predecessor, Basic Energy Ltd., owned and operated Jamaica Energy Partners from 2007 to 2009. With the transaction InterEnergy also reiterates its commitment to Panama, where it is in the final stages of construction of a 215MW project, the Laudato Sí wind farm, the largest of its kind in Central America, where it invested over $430 million.
George Osorio, Conduit’s Managing Partner stated, “The sale of these highly performing plants in Jamaica and Panama is consistent with our commitment to maximize value for our investors. The next stage of our process will be the sale of our operating renewable plants (a 35 MW hydro and 22 MW wind power plant) in Mexico which will begin in the coming months.”
Jamaica Energy Partners was among the first independent power plants (IPPs) in Jamaica. Conduit also invested in the first IPPs in Colombia, Honduras and Peru, the first private hydro in Mexico and the first private natural gas pipeline built for Pemex in Mexico. In total, Conduit has made 36 investments in 11 countries in the region.
Conduit’s Chairman, J. Scott Swensen, stated, “The success of our Jamaican investments is a great example of the value Conduit was able to bring to the region over the last 22 years. By using its project finance skills and development expertise, the Conduit team was able to construct new generation to deal with power shortages in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Key to this success was the contribution from our excellent local management teams which consistently sought ways to create value with us.”
Rolando Gonzalez Bunster, InterEnergy’s Chairman, added “This transaction demonstrates InterEnergy’s commitment to growing our presence in markets where we already have a footprint, and also confirms our strategy of growing into new markets and diversifying our portfolio. Both Jamaica and Panama are of significant importance to InterEnergy as we continue to build one of the leading energy groups in Latin America and the Caribbean. We believe both markets will continue to generate investment opportunities, and we believe that we are better positioned than ever to take advantage of these opportunities.” InterEnergy’s portfolio of businesses, which aggregates over 900 MW of installed capacity and the leading tourism-focused distribution company in the Caribbean, includes businesses in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Jamaica and Chile.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius represented InterEnergy. Conduit was advised by BNP Paribas, and Chadbourne & Parke was US counsel.
About InterEnergy Holdings
InterEnergy Holdings (“InterEnergy”) owns and operates power generation and distribution assets, and fuel logistics businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company owns assets in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Chile and Jamaica. In February 2013, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation acquired a minority equity interest in InterEnergy. This investment marked the beginning of an important expansion phase for the company, with the continuous focus of bringing efficient, clean and cost-effective energy to its investment region. www.interenergy.com
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From a statement issued by the International Finance Corporation (IFC):
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has completed a financing package of $300 million for the construction of Phase II and III of the Penonomé Wind Farm, the largest wind project in Central America. Once operational, it is expected that 86 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 215MW, will generate 448 GWh of energy per year, which is equivalent to approximately 5% of the country's total energy demand of the country. Phase II and III were mostly acquired by Interenergy Holdings, a private company with significant presence in the energy sector in the region and a majority shareholder of UEP Penonomé II, SA, a company created to operate this project in Panama.
With an investment by the U.S. company Interenergy Holdings the Penonomé wind farm will increase its generation capacity to 215 MW.
Marking its return to Panamanian energy market, Interenergy signed an agreement with Unión Eolica Panameña S.A. to invest $427 million in the Penonomé wind farm, making it the largest wind power project in Central America and the Caribbean, with a capacity to generate 215 MW of clean energy.
Energy generated from wind power has great potential for growth in a region where access to natural gas is limited and countries mainly depend on diesel.
According to Adrian Katzew, manager of the Danish firm Vestas, a wind turbine manufacturer, the wind industry’s potential for growth of at the regional level is very high, considering that in Central America and the Caribbean there is no easy access to natural gas, meaning that power generation is dependant mainly on diesel and hydroelectric sources "which are very cyclical."
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