CIP closes $510 million financing for solar-plus-storage plant in Campeche

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) closed approximately $510 million in financing on August 6 for La Esperanza Solar, a hybrid 420 MWdc plant with 150 MW/750 MWh batteries under construction in Campeche. The debt was provided by BNP Paribas, JPMorgan Chase, Natixis CIB, Santander and Scotiabank, according to pv magazine México.

The plant is one of the priority projects of the Ministry of Energy (SENER) under the binding electric-sector planning framework and holds a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with CFE Calificados, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad subsidiary that supplies large consumers. It is CIP's first investment in Mexico to reach financial close and, according to Global Energy, the first utility-scale project to reach that point under the new planning framework, a sign that international banks lend against a PPA with CFE Calificados. The batteries, with 750 MWh equivalent to five hours of operation at rated power, will shift solar output toward peak demand periods in the Yucatán peninsula.

Construction has already begun and commercial operation is scheduled for 2028. The configuration communicated by CIP raises the photovoltaic capacity from the 370.8 MWp submitted to the environmental authority in June 2025 to 420 MWdc, with a step-up substation from 34.5 kV to 400 kV. The equity comes from CIP's Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II), with a planned co-investment from Profuturo, the Mexican pension fund administrator, Energy Storage News reported. In April, CFE Calificados signed power hedge contracts with CIP for La Esperanza Solar and La Alegría Solar, a cluster of around 900 MW of photovoltaics and 450 MW of storage in Campeche.

The next milestone will be financial close for La Alegría Solar, the second plant in the cluster contracted by CFE Calificados in April, which has not yet announced that step. La Esperanza Solar is scheduled to enter operation in 2028, and market attention will focus on whether the same financing structure is replicated at that second plant.

This article was drafted with artificial intelligence assistance based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.