Cleary Gottlieb is representing First Reserve in its partnership with Mexico Power Group to build the 130MW La Bufa wind farm in Zacatecas, Mexico, which was announced on December 2, 2015. The power generated by the La Bufa wind farm will be sold under a contracted offtake agreement to Volkswagen de México for the operation of its vehicle plant in Puebla, which is the largest auto factory in Mexico and one of Volkswagen’s largest global production facilities. La Bufa is the third wind farm First Reserve is partnering on to develop in Mexico. Once completed, the project is expected to bring the company’s total generated wind power in the country to over 600MW.
Cleary Gottlieb advised First Reserve with respect to both its equity investment in La Bufa as well as the financing of the development of the project. The approximately $215 million financing, which is secured by all assets of the project, is being provided by a consortium of lenders that includes Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Korean Development Bank, Nacional Financiera and Bancomext.