World Bank unit approves $300 mln financing for Panama wind farm


News from Panama / Tuesday, December 30th, 2014

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According to Reuters,  a unit of the World Bank will provide $300 million in financing for the ongoing construction of a 215-megawatt wind farm in Panama, which upon completion will be Central America’s largest, the international lender said on Tuesday.

The financing, administered through the bank’s International Finance Corp (IFC), is slated for the second and third stages of construction of the project near the city of Penonome in the central part of the country, about 93 miles (150 km) from Panama’s capital, Panama City.

When finished, the farm will have 86 wind turbines and generate 448 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, or about 5 percent of Panama’s total annual power demand, according to the IFC.

Most of the project’s financing comes from Dominican Republic-focused power-generation investor InterEnergy Holdings, which is the majority owner of UEP Penonome II, the company created to operate the wind farm.

The first phase of the project started operating last December and can generate 55 megawatts of electricity.

The wind farm is forecast to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 400,000 tonnes each year, the IFC said.