Andrés F. Chaves

Andrés advises project sponsors and developers, buyers and offtakers, multilateral and commercial lenders, private equity investors, and equipment suppliers on energy and infrastructure projects in the United States and internationally, with particular focus on liquefied natural gas, midstream oil and gas, and renewable energy project development and finance. He works with clients across the full project lifecycle, from development and procurement through financing, construction, operations, and exit.

In LNG, Andrés has advised buyers on long-term FOB and delivered sale and purchase agreements with U.S. Gulf Coast liquefaction projects and with portfolio sellers, on master sale and purchase agreements, on liquefaction tolling, and on the regasification terminal, capacity, berth, and receiving arrangements that sit behind a delivered cargo. He has also worked on the supply side, including a master equipment supply agreement covering the modularized liquefaction trains and power island for a U.S. export facility, and regularly advises on aligning LNG supply with downstream power and gas offtake.

In renewable energy, Andrés has represented utilities, sponsors and developers on solar, wind, and hydroelectric projects, including EPC contracts and major equipment supply agreements, power purchase agreements and virtual PPAs, build-transfer arrangements, operations and maintenance agreements, and secured syndicated, mezzanine and development finance institution financings. His work across the wider sector covers refinery and petrochemical, pipeline, mining, and utility projects, together with private mergers and acquisitions, asset purchases and sales, joint ventures, and cross-border commercial arrangements.

Andrés spent nearly a decade at International Paper in business analysis, business development, and pricing management before practicing law, and draws on a background in finance and engineering.

A native of Colombia, Andrés is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he was one of only 10 foreign cadets admitted in his class.

LNG and Gas

• Represented a Caribbean sovereign and its public utility in the development of a brownfield gas-to-power project and the procurement of long-term LNG supply from a U.S. portfolio seller, including alignment of the supply agreement with the downstream power offtake.
• Represented a Colombian public utility in the negotiation and drafting of two master sale and purchase agreements for LNG from a leading U.S. portfolio trading company, together with the regasification terminal interface, capacity, berth, and receiving arrangements.
• Represented a private equity-backed developer in the proposed development of an LNG regasification terminal, storage, gas supply system, and 3,200 MW gas-fired power project in Vietnam.
• Represented a Spanish gas utility as buyer in two long-term FOB sale and purchase agreements for LNG from U.S. Gulf Coast liquefaction projects, including the charter arrangements required of an FOB buyer. One was conditioned on the seller reaching final investment decision.
• Represented a Japanese trading house in the negotiation of an LNG liquefaction tolling agreement for a U.S. Gulf Coast export project.
• Represented a global energy equipment manufacturer in a master equipment supply agreement and the first project contracts issued under it, covering the modularized liquefaction trains and power island for a U.S. Gulf Coast export facility of approximately 10 mtpa.

Renewable Energy and Power

• Represented a leading utility in the U.S. in the over $1 billion secured syndicated financing for the development of a 250 MW photovoltaic solar park in California.
• Represented a leading infrastructure developer in the negotiation of an EPC contract and major equipment supply agreements for a 250 MW PV solar project within the Westland Solar Park in California.
• Represented a major utility in the U.S. in the negotiation of the EPC contracts for a greenfield wind farm and solar park, and the Build Transfer Agreements for the sale of such projects to a strategic buyer.
• Represented a private sponsor of a solar park in Texas in its negotiation of a virtual PPA with a corporate electricity buyer and an Operation and Power Management Agreement with an independent asset manager.
• Represented a private sponsor in the development (including negotiation of an EPC contract) and $224 million mezzanine financing of a 144 MW hydroelectric power plant in Guatemala.
• Represented a publicly traded power producer in the $111 million secured syndicated financing by commercial banks and DFIs for the development of a 100 MW portfolio of PV solar power plants in El Salvador.
• Represented a privately held energy infrastructure developer in the negotiation of an EPC contract for a 136 MW portfolio of eight PV solar power plants and associated interconnection facilities in Chile.
• Represented a privately held energy infrastructure developer in the negotiation of an O&M agreement for its solar generation facilities at its Termonorte power plant in Colombia.

Midstream, Oil and Gas

• Represented a multilateral financial institution and a group of private equity investors in their $384 million investment in a midstream oil and gas joint venture in Colombia.
• Represented a joint venture of two South American state-owned oil and gas companies in the negotiation of a $14 billion EPC contract for a greenfield oil refining complex to be built in Ecuador.
• Represented a South American national oil and gas company in the sale of over 190 million barrels of crude oil to China valued at over $16 billion, with a prepayment structure of $2 billion.
• Represented a leading global commodity trading house in the negotiation and drafting of natural gas transportation and international marketing agreements.
• Represented a South American public utility in the $196 million financing from a foreign export-import bank of a 117 MW gas-fired combined-cycle generator and various upgrades to existing generation facilities.

Infrastructure and Sovereign

• Represented a South American sovereign in the $260 million financing from a multilateral lender of the capital city’s first metro line.
• Represented a South American sovereign in the $125 million financing from a multilateral lender for the development and construction of new governmental office and administrative facilities in the capital city.