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Tony Gordon, a managing director at Goldman Sachs in London, has returned stateside to join AIG Trading in Stamford, Conn., a securities arm of insurance behemoth American International Group.

Grupo Dragados, Spain's largest industrial conglomerate, is prepping a roughly EUR500 million non-recourse bank loan to fund the development of an ambitious wind farm program across Spain. Repeated calls to Lorenzo Cooklin Diaz, director of communications at Dragados, were not returned.

The banking syndicate involved in financing NRG Energy's 680 MW Killingholme A gas-fired power plant in the U.K. has formed a steering committee to look at ways of restructuring the non-recourse loan and leave it better positioned to withstand NRG's departure from the U.K. market. "The plant is operationally excellent. Our concern is that NRG could sell the plant at a loss and force the lenders to take a haircut on the loan," says one financier.

Deutsche Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi recently signed an approximately $150 million bridge loan to provide interim construction financing as they struggle to pull together some $400 million in non-recourse project debt to fund the construction of two Union Fenosa-sponsored gas-fired power plants in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Repeated calls to Fenosa's press office in Madrid and Doug Johnson and Lewis Hart, project financiers at Deutsche Bank and BoTM, respectively, were not returned.

Gaz de France reportedly has retained Morgan Stanley to advise it on buying E.on and Ruhrgas' 50% combined stake in eastern German gas distributor VNG Verbundnetzgas, which they must offload as part of their controversial tie up. While GdF has been much touted in the German press as a likely buyer of VNG, its decision to appoint an investment bank well before the E.on/Ruhrgas deal received approval reveals how seriously GdF is taking the expansion opportunity, notes a London banker. A Morgan Stanley banker declined to comment and calls to Sabine Wacquez, a GdF spokeswoman in Paris, were not returned.

Following is a directory of upcoming projects and related financing in the Latin American power sector. To report new deals or provide updates, please call Amanda Levin, Reporter, at (212) 224-3292 or email: alevin@iinews.com

German utility RWE is seeking a bank to advise on financing its debut power plant development project in Mexico, says a New York project financier. He adds RWE is looking to build a $75-$100 million 100 MW gas-fired co-generation plant in the state of Puebla and is mulling over a variety of funding options, including a combination of equity and debt.

UniSource Energy, the parent company of Tucson Electric Power, is looking to develop a $70 million, 60-mile 345 KV transmission line from Tucson to Mexico. Jim Pignatelli, chairman, president and ceo, says the line will likely be completed in 2005 and will have the capacity to transmit approximately 400 MW of power.

Exelon has put four energy concerns, Cinergy, DQE, NSTAR and CMS Energy, on its shopping list as it looks to acquire a second Midwest utility, according to New York investment bankers familiar with its expansion strategy. Wall Street bankers and analysts claim that each target would fit in nicely next to Exelon's other assets, and note that Cinergy may be the easiest to execute a deal with as it is actively looking for a partner. Linda Marsicano, a spokeswoman at Exelon, and Oliver Kingsley, senior executive v.p., did not return calls. Kingsley toldPFR earlier this month it plans to acquire an integrated utility in the Northwest or Midwest while valuations remain depressed (PFR, 9/9).

AES and TXU Europe are reportedly looking to ink a tolling agreement on Barry, AES' 250 MW merchant power plant in Wales, whose economic viability has been hit hard by plummeting U.K. wholesale power prices.