BNZ, a solar project developer and an independent power producer (IPP), announced that it had completed its first Total IPP Financing (TIPPF) for over €680 million (~$744 million) in several countries.
The funding includes a senior debt facility and ancillary credit facilities of €420 million (~$459 million), secured by Clean Energy Fund III of Nuveen’s portfolio from a group of financial institutions formed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), ABN AMRO, Intesa Sanpaolo, NatWest, SMBC, and Bankinter with Palmer acting as an agent.
The remaining funding of up to €260 million (~$285 million) is secured from the Holdco financing facility, managed by Ares Management’s Infrastructure Debt and US Direct Lending strategies, with Alter Domus acting as agent.
The funding will enable the company to develop its strategic growth plan in Southern Europe further in the coming years and develop solar PV projects. Last month, BNZ, along with the EIB, also announced the signing of a €166 million (~$184.68 million) green loan to support the development of 17 new solar projects with a combined capacity of more than 700 MW in Spain, Italy, and Portugal.
BNZ CEO Luis Selva said: “The new stage marked by the closing of our financing, which amounts to 680 million euros, demonstrates the strength of our business and the ambitious nature of our plans and opens up new opportunities for us to explore technological and geographic diversity, and to expand both our operations and our team, with the aim of becoming one of the largest IPPs in the market. We want to continue building a cleaner and more sustainable future, and the support of such important financial institutions demonstrates a shared long-term vision to achieve a better world.”
According to Mercom’s 1H and Q2 2024 Solar Funding and M&A Report, debt financing activity in 1H 2024 reached $12.2 billion in 50 deals, a 53% increase compared to 1H 2023, when $8 billion was raised in 33 deals.
