Villonaco III Wind Project Financing in Ecuador (IDBI-14111-01)

Regions
  • Latin America and Caribbean
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Ecuador
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Chuquiribamba, Chantaco, Taquil (Miguel Riofrio); Loja del cantón Loja; parroquia Catamayo (La Toma)
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
  • IDB Invest (IDBI)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
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
Jul 28, 2026
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
Villonacoenergy S.A. (Grupo Cobra)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 104.00 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.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 104.00 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.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IDBI website

Updated in EWS Jun 26, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jun 24, 2026

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

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.

According to the IDB Invest, the financing will support the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the Villonaco III wind farm, located in Loja, Ecuador, with an installed capacity of approximately 112 MW, developed under a 25-year concession granted by the Ministry of Energy and Mines. The project includes 19 wind turbine generators, a 33/138 kV step-up substation, an approximately 24.5 km 138 kV transmission line, and the associated civil works required to connect the project to the Loja substation and evacuate energy to the national power system.

The project will contribute to the decarbonization and transformation of Ecuador's energy matrix by generating electricity from renewable sources, supporting the country's transition toward a cleaner and more sustainable energy system. The energy generated by the project will be sold under long-term power purchase agreements with nine state-owned electricity distribution companies.

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

As stated by the IDB Invest (translated with DeepL.com), Villonacoenergy S.A. is a special-purpose company incorporated by Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios S.A., part of the Cobra Group, the industrial arm of VINCI. 

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
Vinci SA Parent Company Infrastructure owns Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios Client Energy

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.

Client - Villonacoenergy S.A. (Grupo Cobra):

Email: villonacoenergy@cobraecuador.com 
Phone: +593 993676920
Address: Av. Pampite y Simon Valenzuela, Edificio YOO, Piso 5 Oficina 517 Quito - Ecuador

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://www.iadb.org/en/access-information/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IDB / IDB INVEST

The Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) or Inter-American Investment Corporation (IDB Invest)-funded project. If you submit a complaint to MICI, they may assist you in addressing the problems you raised through a dispute-resolution process with those implementing the project and/or through an investigation to assess whether the IDB or IDB Invest is following its own policies for preventing or mitigating harm to people or the environment. You can submit a complaint by sending an email to MICI@iadb.org. You can learn more about the MICI and how to file a complaint at http://www.iadb.org/en/mici/mici,1752.html (in English) or http://www.iadb.org/es/mici/mici,1752.html (Spanish).

How it works

How it works