Verbund, an electric utility, has acquired the 147.6 MW Illora solar PV project in southern Spain from BayWa r.e., a developer, service provider, PV wholesale distributor, and renewable energy solutions provider.
The project design comprises three PV system sections located in Pinos Puente, near Granada. Construction work of the project commenced in May 2021 and is expected to be commissioned by the first quarter of 2022. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price or other transaction details.
The sale of the Illora project features the company’s growing success in the Spanish market, in which BayWa r.e. has a pipeline of over 1.4 GW of solar and wind projects.
“We are delighted about the successful collaboration with Verbund and are very proud of the implementation of the large Illora project, which ranks among our pioneering projects in southern Europe. Thanks to our many years of experience, our global network, and fantastic team performance, we will be able to come in on schedule despite the restrictions caused by COVID-19 and delivery bottlenecks,” said Dr. Benedikt Ortmann, global director of solar projects at BayWa r.e. “Spain remains one of our core markets, and we have been able to post strong growth here in recent years,” he added.
“The VERBUND Strategy 2030 envisages significant growth in the area of renewable energies with the goal of achieving around 20-25% of total production from PV and onshore wind by 2030. In addition to entering the Spanish market, this transaction represents another important step on the way to the future of renewable energy,” says Michael Strugl, CEO at Verbund.
According to recently published Mercom’s 9M and Q3 2021 Solar Funding and M&A Report, 64 large-scale solar projects were acquired for a combined total of $2.1 billion in Q3 2021 compared to 54 transactions for $1.7 billion in Q2 2021. In a YoY comparison, acquisition activity was up 66% in Q3 2021.
Image credit: BayWa r.e.
