ENGIE North America, a U.S.-based electric utility, completed tax-equity financing for its Iron Star and Priddy wind projects and equity financing for the portfolio of these assets plus the Hawtree solar project, with a total installed capacity of 655 MW. The two wind projects located in Ford County, Kansas, and Mills County, Texas, are owned by affiliates of ENGIE. The Hawtree solar project is in Warren County, North Carolina. Investors in the financing include Bank of America and Wells Fargo and a new relationship with InfraRed Capital Partners (U.S.), who provided equity investments for the projects. The projects are part of the more than 4 GW portfolio of renewable energy assets currently managed by the company across North America. There are 62 wind turbines capable of producing 4.8 MW each in commercial operation at the Iron Star project and 63 turbines of the same size operating at the Priddy project. The Hawtree project’s installed capacity is equal to 65 MW.
Greencells Group, through Greencells Group Holdings and Greencells, a developer and an EPC, O&M service provider for utility-scale solar projects, acquired 304 MW of solar projects in Spain and Greece. The projects – Leda and Bizarrona with a total installed capacity of 29 MW located in Spain, and a 275 MW Megalo Monastiri solar project in Greece. Greencells is expected to develop the projects to ready-to-build status by 2023.
British International Investment (formerly CDC Group), a U.K. government-owned development financial institution, announced an investment of $89 million for solar projects in India. British International Investment (BII) is providing $47 million as part of a follow-on investment to the distributed solar company Fourth Partner Energy for projects totaling 294 MW. The projects will be developed across India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The latest funding brings BII’s total commitment to Fourth Partner Energy to $80 million.
The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG), an investment company managed by InfraRed, announced an investment of €117 million (~$130.03 million) to acquire a 49% stake in the 264 MW Valdesolar solar project managed by Repsol, a Spanish energy and petrochemical company. The project has been fully operational since the third quarter of 2021. The Valdesolar project comprises 648,000 solar modules distributed over five large areas connected to the grid through a new 400 kV electrical substation that is also part of the project.
Investment company Aquila European Renewables Income Fund (AERIF), advised by Aquila Capital Investmentgesellschaft, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary has entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire a 100 MW solar PV portfolio (Greco project) currently under construction in Spain. The Greco portfolio comprises two solar projects located in Andalucia, in the south of Spain. Construction is currently underway with fencing and earthworks activities, while procurement of all major equipment is now complete (including solar PV modules, trackers, and inverters). The project is expected to come online in late 2022.
Foresight Solar, a fund investing in a diversified portfolio of ground-based solar PV and battery storage assets in the UK, secured a €28 million (~$31.2 million) senior debt facility for the 98.5 MW Lorca solar portfolio in Granada, Spain. The senior debt facility will be provided by BayernLB and enables Foresight Solar to obtain a long debt structuring tenor. The project is currently under construction and is expected to be connected to the grid in June 2022.
Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest telecom companies, and its data center subsidiary, Nxtra Data, have acquired a 7.03% and 11.33% equity stake in Avaada KNShorapur, a special purpose vehicle operating a 10 MW open access solar project in Karnataka. Airtel has acquired the stake for a cash consideration of ₹17.42 million (~$228,387) to acquire 1.74 million equity shares of ₹10 (~$0.13) each. Meanwhile, Nxtra Data has acquired the stake for a cash consideration of ₹28.07 million (~$368,016) for 2.80 million equity shares of ₹10 (~$0.13) each.
Danish investment firm Obton has secured more than €400 million (~$441.2 million) in debt from a consortium of lenders to refinance and revamp a 116 MW portfolio of solar projects located at brownfield sites in Italy. The financing was extended by funds managed by Generali Global Infrastructure, Natixis CIB, and UniCredit. The transaction includes a term facility to refinance existing indebtedness, a capex facility for revamping works, a true-up facility to re-leverage the portfolio, and a debt service ratio (DSR) facility. The debt is earmarked for the WT2 portfolio, which consists of 144 PV projects that were switched on between June 2008 and March 2013. Obton has been advised on the process by SURE – Sustainable Revolution, while the banks have been advised by law firms, DLA Piper and Orrick.
For reports and trackers on funding and M&A transactions in solar, energy storage, smart grid, and efficiency sectors, click here.
Read last week’s project finance brief.
