Fortis and Calyon close Ventanas syndication (29/05)

 New York, NY, May 29, 2007 – Fortis Merchant and Private Banking, a division of Fortis, and Calyon, the Corporate and Investment Banking arm of the Credit Agricole Group, announced today that syndication of the non-recourse debt financing has
closed for AES Gener's new coal-fired power plant in Ventanas, Chile. The transaction was extremely well received by the market, as evidenced by significant oversubscription.

AES Gener, the second largest power generator in Chile, is sponsoring the 241.8-megawatt (MW) project, named Empresa Eléctrica Ventanas or Nueva Ventanas. Nueva Ventanas is projected to be highly competitive relative to other power plants in Chile's central grid, which serves more than 90% of the country's population.

AES Gener has fully contracted the project's electricity and capacity under a 15-year toll. The financing consists of a three-year construction loan that will convert to a 12-year term loan at the start of commercial operation. The debt amortizes along a longer schedule, leaving a bullet at maturity of the term loan.

“Nueva Ventanas is an important expansion of AES Gener's business in Chile, and Fortis was extremely pleased to lead the financing for this project, together with our partners at Calyon,” said Kerri L. Fox, Managing Director and Head of Global Export and Project Finance at Fortis in New York. “Following bank meetings held during the week of April 24th in New York in English, and in Santiago in Spanish, the transaction was significantly oversubscribed.”

“The back-to-back development of Nueva Ventanas and Guacolda, two new coal fired power plants by AES Gener, will add precious capacity to the Chilean central grid,” said Georges Romano, Managing Director and Head of Project Finance for Latin America at CALYON CIB. “Both plants are expected to be operational in 2010, and their contribution to the grid alleviates the risk of a severe energy crisis.”

Korea-based POSCO Engineering & Construction is building the project adjacent to two existing coal-fired power plants owned by AES Gener. The boiler and turbine suppliers are Doosan Babcock and Ansaldo, respectively.

Fortis and Calyon are Joint Bookrunners and Joint Lead Arrangers. Fortis is the Administrative Agent and Calyon is the Syndication Agent. The transaction was led by the project finance teams of Fortis and Calyon in New York.