EPM Secures $1 Billion USD Loan from Inter-American Development Bank to Build Massive Hydropower Plant

To fund what it called “the largest hydropower project” in Colombia, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has signed a $1 billion USD loan for Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM).

The financing, characterized as a “senior unsecured A/B loan package,” will be coordinated through the development bank’s IDB Invest arm and allow EPM to build a 2,400-megawatt hydropower plant in northern Antioquia, the nation’s largest department outside the capital.

Once completed by the Medellín-based utility, the facility is expected to generate some 13,900 megawatts of electricity per year, or 18% of the total power capacity in a country where the vast majority of electricity is generated through hydropower.

The initial $300 million USD “A” loan will come from the IDB Group with a 12-year tenor. Another $650 million USD, with a 12-year and 8-year tranche, will come from a group of international banks and investors, including BBVA, Banco Santander, BNP Paribas, KFW IPEX, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, CDPQ, and ICBC.

The remaining $50 million USD will come from the China Co-Financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, which is administered by the Inter-American Development Bank.

“The transaction highlights the expansion of renewable energy in emerging markets and underscores IDB Invest’s commitment to mitigating climate change,” said the IDB in a statement.

Photo credit: Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM)