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Ruben

CFO El Salvador & Panama

Madrid, Spain

15+ years of comprehensive experience in the renewable energy sector in five countries (Spain, Germany, USA, Panama and El Salvador). I am part of the team that has developed, financed, and built 68MW of solar PV projects in El Salvador, acquired a 21MW solar PV project in Panama and financed 99MW of onshore wind in Mexico, all of them backed by long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). I have experience managing solar PV “Pay-As-Produced” PPAs in pre-operational and operational phases in El Salvador and Panama. I built and managed the financial model that was used for the 2016 renewable energy tender in El Salvador, being awarded one of the three Solar PV PPAs. I have participated in the successful negotiations of two construction loans and three long-term project finance facilities of several solar PV projects with regional and international financial institutions for a combined value of +$100MM. M.Sc. in Engineering, Postgraduate studies in Business Administration, and additional studies in Finance. Native Spanish speaker, fluent in English (CPE) and German (ZMP). "Roll-up-your-sleeves" attitude. An avid and quick learner.

Domain experience

Relevant Total Experience: 8 years

Seniority Level: Senior

Sector Experience: 

Independent Power Producers and Energy Traders

Skills

Skilled in: Commercial Due Diligence, Financial Due Diligence, Technical Due Diligence, Contractual Agreements, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), M&A Marketing Materials, Financial Modeling, Company Valuation

Technical Skills: Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Office, Python

Languages: German, Spanish, English

Work Experience

REAL Infrastructure Capital Partners LLC

CFO El Salvador & Panama

01/01/2017

 

- 27/10/2022

Financial management of the fund holding companies and SPVs in El Salvador & Panama, comprising a portfolio of operating utility-scale solar PV projects for a combined capacity of 89MW. Asset management. Management of a local team of 2 people based in El Salvador. Main responsibilities: • Build and maintain financial models and cash flow projections; • Collaborate in the negotiations of project finance and debt facilities; • Prepare construction and operating budgets; • Manage cash balances; preparation of capital calls and capital distributions; • Liaise with service providers (e.g. auditing firms, O&M, administrative services) • Manage PPAs in pre-operational and operational phases; • Supervise the preparation of financial statements and operating reports of assets under management; • Attorney-In-Fact of the project and portfolio companies, both at country and holding levels; • Main achievements: o Managed the importation and tax exemption (i.e. VAT and customs duties) of solar PV and substation equipment in El Salvador for a total value of $55M. o Participated in the successful negotiations of two construction loans and three long-term project finance facilities with local and international financial institutions for a combined value of +$100M. o Implemented a script in Python to automatize the calculation of PPA monthly invoices to distributing companies from electricity market data provided by the Salvadoran dispatch center (UT).

REAL Infrastructure Capital Partners LLC

Senior Investment Associate

01/02/2015

 

- 01/12/2016

• Conduct due diligence for the acquisition of renewable energy projects in Latin America, Mexico, and the Caribbean for a $100M fund; • Prepare and review financial models and perform sensitivity analysis for the investment targets; • Prepare investment committee material and participate in the approval process of investments; • Support project finance negotiations; • Prepare presentations and materials for investor reports; • Main achievements: o Participated in the successful negotiation of a mezzanine instrument for two wind projects in Mexico; o Built and managed the financial model used for the 2016 renewable energy tender in El Salvador. The bid presented was one of the three awarded PPAs for Solar PV projects.

Alstom Renewable Power

Product Marketing Manager EMEA, Onshore Wind

01/03/2010

 

- 01/02/2015

• Design, development, and ownership of a financial modeling tool to simulate wind farm business cases and define wind turbine and services price strategies based on NPV, IRR, and LCoE; • Development of a regional wind turbine pricing model; • Analyze market and customer requirements, identify potential needs and opportunities and contribute to the medium- and long-term product development strategy; • Launch developments of new products and optimize existing product and service offerings in onshore wind portfolio; • Participate in international fairs and conferences to promote Alstom Wind (e.g. attended as Speaker to Wind Power Romania 2013 and ICCI 2012 Istanbul); • Organize promotion events with customers (e.g. events in Belgrade and Istanbul); • Design and global implementation of a customer satisfaction survey. More than 25 direct interviews with customers were conducted, leading to the creation of specific action plans to improve customer satisfaction levels.

Gamesa Eólica S.L.

Sales Engineer, Onshore Wind

01/02/2008

 

- 01/02/2010

• Manage tendering activities of wind turbine supply and EPC contracts in Sweden, Norway, the UK, Ireland, Spain, and Italy. • Contribute to contract negotiations by managing contractual documentation and coordinating with supporting departments (pre-sales, wind engineering, legal, etc.) • Support customer requests and coordinate pre-sales activities (e.g. grid connection analysis, site feasibility studies, and site access reports).

Education

Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain

01/09/1997

 

- 01/05/2003

Licenses / Certificates

Full Stack Modeller

Full Stack Modeller - Excel Mastery

01/06/2022

 

Gridlines

Essential Financial Modelling

01/04/2020

 

Quantinsti

Certificate Of Excellence - Executive Program in Algorithmic Trading

01/02/2020

 

Coursera

Python For Everybody Specialization

01/09/2018

 

Coursera

Operational Finance: Finance For Managers

01/08/2018

 

Coursera

Accounting: Principles of Financial Accounting

01/07/2018

 

Coursera

Fundamentals of Quantitative Modelling

01/02/2016

 

Coursera

Mastering Data Analysis in Excel

01/01/2016

 

Coursera

Financing and Investing in Infrastructure

01/07/2014

 

Coursera

Introduction to Finance

01/05/2014

 

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