CABEI Grants US$669,000 Partial Credit Guarantee to FIDOSA to Promote Hydraulic Power Generation in Guatemala
With this partial credit guarantee, CABEI and Financiera de Occidente S.A. (FIDOSA) have become pioneers in the country’s emerging energy market.
Guatemala City, July 31, 2014. - The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), through its project "Accelerating Renewable Energy Investments in Central America and Panama (ARECA)," provided a US$669,000 partial credit guarantee to Financiera de Occidente S.A, (FIDOSA). The financing will be used to develop a small renewable energy project that uses hydraulic technology.
The investment is expected to produce estimated annual generation of 2,751.30MWh (megawatt hours). This important project required extensive teamwork and also involved the company "Comercializadora de Energía para el Desarrollo S.A." as a distributor of electricity and promoter of the interconnection of renewable energy projects; the company is part of the Ingenio Magdalena S.A holding company.
The partial credit guarantee program, which is promoted by the Project Accelerating Renewable Energy Investments in Central America and Panama (ARECA) as a tripartite initiative of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and CABEI, with contributions from the Finish Foreign Affairs Ministry, makes it possible for financial institutions such as FIDOSA to promote the Guatemalan energy sector. This will open the way for future clean energy projects to access commercial banking institutions that finance the implementation of their initiatives and promote greater participation of renewable energy in the regional energy matrix.
CABEI is the region’s main source of development financing, and its 2010-2014 Institutional Strategy “Competitiveness with Integration and Social Development” promotes initiatives that generate energy through renewable power sources, such as hydro, wind, biomass, geothermal and solar. In this way the Bank contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that causes climate change.
CABEI’s ARECA Project promotes innovative solutions for the development and execution of renewable energy projects (less than 10MW with decentralized generation), facilitating access to credit by providing partial credit guarantees to banking institutions that promote the sustainable development of the Central American region.
