Glenfarne subsidiary launches 400MW power business in Chile

Glenfarne Asset Company (GAC), a subsidiary of New York-based privately held energy and infrastructure firm Glenfarne Group, has launched Prime Energia which will establish a 400MW portfolio of power plants in Chile through a mix of brownfield acquisition and greenfield development. Prime Energia's recently acquired 50MW brownfield backup power plant in Chile is part of a broader 750MW power portfolio build-out by GAC in investment grade economies throughout the Americas.

The 50MW plant in Chile will be complemented by additional 350MW of power plants to be built or expanded at various sites throughout that nation's electric grid. GAC's other businesses include a biomass power plant in the southeastern US which is the anchor asset to an integrated biomass energy business and a base load thermal power plant in late stage development in Central America.

'The launch of Prime Energia, and the acquisition of the Chilean plant, is an exciting milestone in the evolution of Glenfarne's strategy to develop, invest in, and manage infrastructure assets throughout the Americas,' says Brendan Duval, Glenfarne's founder and managing partner. 'Chile is an excellent nation for GAC to invest in given its high sovereign credit rating of AA-, attractive GDP growth rate, stable political environment, and need for additional back-up capacity in its power grid supported by US dollar denominated capacity payments.'

Duval continues: 'The rapid deployment of electricity from Prime Energia's recently acquired 50MW back-up plant supports the nation's growing focus on renewable energy. All renewable energy needs an on-demand alternative during times when it cannot produce due to weather patterns. Back-up power plants offer one of the most cost effective solutions for supporting a grid's continued and expanding dependence on renewable energy.'

GAC, the subsidiary Glenfarne formed in 2014 to drive its $1.7 billion (€1.5 billion) portfolio of three power and alternative energy businesses, has received capital commitments from a range of investors including a large US public pension fund, a co-investment fund focused on direct investing, and institutional-caliber family offices.