MPC Caribbean Clean Energy assessing impact on tariff reduction at its Costa Rican associated company, Tila Wind
Jamaica and Trinidad cross listed company MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Limited is now assessing the commercial impact of the Costa Rican light and power company reducing the tariff on energy produced by its associated renewable energy company in that country, Tila Wind Corporatión S A, which trades under the name Tilawind.
Tilawind, which operates a 21 megawatt wind farm in Costa Rica, was recently informed by Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (Grupo ICE), the Costa Rican Government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider, that the tariff for this calendar year will be reduced effective February 10, 2021.
MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund LLC, which has a 50 per cent stake in Tilawind since 2019, has not given any details about the extent of the reduced tariff, only to say that it is now in the process of assessing the commercial impact on revenues and overall asset value.
Tilawind is a 100 per cent subsidiary of CCEF ANSA Renewable Energies Holdings Limited in which MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund holds a 50 per cent shareholding. The wind farm, which is located in Tilarán, in the northern province of Costa Rica, Guanacaste, has been operational since 2015 and has the potential for future expansion of its peak capacity.
UNKNOWN WHETHER REDUCTION
It is not known whether MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund plans to double the electricity production of Tilawind in the coming years and to supply more than 100,000 people with clean energy in Costa Rica would be impacted by reduced tariff. Since 2014, renewable energy in Costa Rica supplied more than 98 per cent of the energy output for the entire nation.
The Tilawind wind farm has been contributing to this achievement since 2015 while providing an attractive cash yield. The wind farm was financed with a loan from Costa Rica’s largest bank Banco Nacional.
MPC Caribbean Clean Energy parent company, MPC Capital, closed the financial deal for acquiring the 21 MW wind farm Tilawind in April 2019 for approximately US$50 million. The investors include MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund, MPC Capital’s investment platform for renewable energies in the Caricom region and ANSA McAL Limited, Trinidad and Tobago’s largest conglomerate.