GE, through its energy investing unit GE Energy Financial Services, and YPF Energía Eléctrica, a wholly owned subsidiary of YPF S.A., have secured an approximate $220 million project financing for two jointly owned power projects in Argentina, the 267 MW Tucumán and 107 MW Loma Campana II plants. Citi, Credit Suisse and Export Development Canada (EDC) jointly led the financing, which represent the first power plant project financing in Argentina in almost 20 years, GE notes.
Tucumán and Loma Campana II are both more than halfway through construction. The Tucumán project will be powered by a GE 9F.04 gas turbine and will begin commercial operation in February 2018. Loma Compana II will be powered by a GE LMS100 gas turbine and will begin commercial operation in December 2017. GE is the EPC contractor for both projects.
Each project will benefit from a 10-year power purchase agreement with the state- run wholesale electricity market administrator Compañía Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Eléctrico SA (CAMMESA). The PPAs were awarded in 2016 as part of the government of Argentina’s ‘Fast Power’ tender process. The tender was the first of a series aimed at displacing expensive and inefficient generating capacity, and quickly increasing the country’s electricity reserve margin.
As a result of the ‘Fast Power’ tender scheme, GE is providing equipment to seven projects totalling 896 MW, comprising 9F, LMS100 and TM2500 gas turbines.
¦ Fast power in Yangon.
GE reports that a recent TM2500 mobile power plant project in the Yangon region of Myanmar delivered power 60 days from the time the order was placed. GE implemented the 25 MW project in consortium with Golden Green Energy Co Ltd (GGE). The power plant will be managed and operated by Electric Power Generation Enterprises (EPGE) of the Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) and the Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation (YESC).
The TM2500 mobile generating set is based on the LM2500 gas turbine. There are some 200 TM2500 units in operation around the world.
