Alto Maipo SpA (DFC-2017-ALTOMAIPOSPA)

Countries
  • Chile
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Metropolitan Region
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Active
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Jun 5, 2020
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Alto Maipo SpA (AES Gener S.A.,Chile - Subsidiary of AES Corporation, Virginia)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Hydropower
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Potential Rights Impacts
  • Cultural Rights
  • Healthy Environment
  • Housing & Property
  • Labor & Livelihood
  • Right to Health
  • Right to Water
Only for projects receiving a detailed analysis, a broad category of human and environmental rights and frequently at-risk populations.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 250.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 2,000.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ DFC website

Updated in EWS May 3, 2024


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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

The development, construction and operation of a 531 MW runof-river hydroelectric power plant approximately 50 kilometers east of Santiago, the capital of Chile. The Project will be a key generation facility for Chile and reduce electricity costs as well as greenhouse gas emissions in the country’s central interconnected grid, a system that has become increasingly reliant on coal and diesel generation plants.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The Project has been screened as Category A because potential impacts are diverse and potentially irreversible. In addition to impacts and risks associated with large construction and civil works (e.g., noise, dust, traffic, vehicle and equipment emissions, solid and hazardous waste management, and occupational health and safety), environmental concerns are related to tunneling activities such as noise, vibration and waste rock disposal; impacts on water quality due to construction works in river channels and contaminated run-off from waste rock piles; and potential impacts on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity during construction and on aquatic biodiversity during operation as a result of reduced or diverted flow. Occupational health and safety risks associated with tunneling, such as the potential for cave-ins and collapse, and degraded air quality.

People Affected By This Project
People Affected By This Project refers to the communities of people likely to be affected positively or negatively by a project.

As of March 2020, the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is reviewing the impacts of the Alto Maipo Hydroelectric Project, which has put Chileans’ fundamental rights at risk. These include the rights to water, food, housing, health, and culture. Communities claim that they have never been adequately consulted, despite the fact that the project has jeopardized the environment in the area where they live and violated fundamental human rights for many years, raising grave concerns about the project’s impacts for more than a decade.

http://www.ciel.org/news/un-body-calls-out-alto-maipo-hydroelectric-project-for-negative-impacts-on-chileans-economic-social-and-cultural-rights/

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Loan, up to $250 million with a term of up to 20 years

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Borrower: Alto Maipo SpA, owned by AES Gener (60%) and Antofagasta Minerals S.A., AMSA (40%)

US Sponsor: AES Gener S.A. (Chile), a subsidiary of AES Corporation (Virginia, USA)

Foreign Sponsor: Antofagasta plc. (UK), through Antofagasta Minerals S.A.(Chile), a wholly-owned subsidiary

 

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - AES Corporation Parent Company -
- - - - AES Gener S.A. Client -

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Unlike many other development finance institutions, DFC does not currently have an access to information policy.

 

Under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), DFC is obliged to respond to reasonably formulated requests for Agency records. However, DFC may apply exemptions from release to certain types of information and may charge fees in responding to requests. DFC has a designated FOIA officer who is trained in how to respond to requests and implement the law. You can learn more about filing a FOIA request at: https://www.dfc.gov/foia.



ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION (DFC)

 

The Office of Accountability is an independent office that addresses complaints about environmental or social issues related to DFC-supported projects. The office provides communities an opportunity to have concerns independently reviewed and addressed. If you submit a complaint to the Office of Accountability, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a problem solving dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the DFC complied with its policies to prevent environmental, social, human rights, and labor harms. 

 

You can find more information about the Office of Accountability at: https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/office-accountability.

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