August 22, 2025: Global renewables group Zelestra has secured the $282 million financial close to develop a 1GWh battery and solar ESS plant in Chile.
Energy expert and assurance provider DNV said on August 19 it supported the green financing package for Zelestra’s Aurora project, backed by several international financial institutions.
Zelestra confirmed last May that China-based Sungrow would supply its PowerTitan 2.0 liquid-cooled silicon carbide power conversion system units with LFP-based battery cells chemistry for the project.
The battery storage system will operate alongside a 220MWdc (MW on a direct-current, nameplate-capacity) solar PV facility, to be built under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for Abastible.
The ESS at Tarapacá, in the Atacama Desert region, will be used to distribute electricity at night.
DNV supported the financial close by providing market advisory and technical due diligence, including revenue forecasting, PPA structure assessments and battery dispatch optimization.
Zelestra said DNV’s insight, powered by its proprietary power analytics platform, gave lenders Natixis CIB, BNP Paribas, and BCI the independent validation needed to assess the project’s bankability and risk profile with confidence.
According to Zelestra, Chile is racing ahead in its energy transition, already generating nearly 70% of its electricity from renewables as it powers toward a target of generating 80% of electricity from renewables by 2030.
The country’s Atacama Desert is home to more than 11GW of installed solar capacity, which in turn accounts for over a fifth of the nation’s electricity output.
Chile is combining these resources through demand centers via a 3GW transmission line and aiming to achieve 5GW of battery storage nationwide by 2030 to manage intermittency, Zelestra said.
DNV said by helping de-risk Aurora, the company had helped set a precedent for large-scale renewable investments in emerging markets.
Zelestra, which has a portfolio of nearly 30 GW of carbon-free projects at various stages of development in 13 countries, is backed by fund major EQT, with more than €273 billion ($319 billion) in assets under management.
