MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay receives IDB credit to boost investment in renewable energies

A common sight in top hills of Uruguay, a display of wind turbines

As part of Uruguay long term plan to promote investment in infrastructure and finance investment in electric power plants using renewable energy resources, essentially wind and solar so as to diversify the country energy mix and cut CO2 emissions, the country will be receiving a 250 million dollar credit line from the Inter American Development Bank, IDB.

 The plan known as the Financial Program for Productive Development also includes financing agriculture investment in irrigation projects and upgrading of the citrus growing sector. The program is to be implemented by Uruguay development bank, or Banco Republica, BROU, which has a long and recognized experience in this sort of investment programs.

“With this line, the BROU is strengthened as the financial arm of energy and agricultural investments that contribute to growth that is sustainable and based on productivity and the competitive advantages of Uruguayan agriculture,” said Francisco Demichelis, IDB project team leader.

The program will provide the BROU with resources to finance companies that develop wind power farms. It is estimated that the plan will help finance a series of projects that will generate up to 120 MW of clean energy and help alleviate problems associated with the dependency of the Uruguayan energy mix during years of little rainfall.

It will also finance around 2MW in small, distributed-generation solar energy plants so as to demonstrate the viability of this technology.

As for investments in the agricultural sector, the program calls for financing projects that will set up irrigation for around 16,600 hectares of rain-fed land, as well as projects in the citrus-growing sector that would involving the replanting of up to 4,850 hectares, helping upgrade approximately 30% of all land used for this purpose.

In both cases the investments that are financed will be accompanied by training and technical assistance. The first, $125 million individual loan approved by the IDB under this line of credit for investment projects is over 25 years with a five-and-a-half year grace period and an interest rate pegged to the LIBOR.