Merida-3

active

A consortium of AES Corp., Grupo Hermes SA, and Nichimen Corp. were selected in Jan. 1997 to develop the 440-MW gas fired, combined-cycle Merida-3 project in the Ciudad Industrial Felipe Carrillo Puerto industrial park near Merida. Merida-3 is the first project to be offered in Mexico on a build-own-operate basis. Commercial operation is due by 2000. AES owns 55% of the project company, Nichimen and Grupo Hermes hold 25% and 20%, respectively. AES Corp. raised $173 million of non-recourse project financing for the project. The International Finance Corporation provided a $120 million loan, of which $90-million was provided by a commercial bank syndicate through a "B" loan and the remainder was provided by IFC as a direct "A" loan. The IFC, along with the Sanwa Bank Ltd. as co-manager, arranged the B loan syndication. The financing also included a $69 million loan provided by the Export-Import Bank of Japan through its overseas Investment Credit program. The turnkey construction contract was awarded to Westinghouse Electric Corp. in August 1997. The plant will be powered by two 160-MW Westinghouse 501F combustion turbines and a 160-MW steam turbine generator. Gas to fuel the project will be transported via a privately owned and operated pipeline being developed by Energia Mayakan. In May 2000, the power plant commenced operations.