Project Finance Brief: Nexamp to Acquire 50 MW of Community Solar Projects

Audax Renovables launches green bonds worth €20 million

September 21, 2020

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From: Mercom Capital Group

Sun Investment Group (SIG) and Ignitis Renewables have signed a contract under which Ignitis Renewables will acquire a 170 MW turnkey portfolio developed in Poland by SIG. The PV projects will be eligible for a 15-year support mechanism ensuring the stability of electricity pricing for the projects. To be constructed in the southern voivodeships of Poland, the solar projects will generate around 190,000 MWh of electricity annually, enough to power 79,000 houses.

German developer Joachim Goldbeck secured a $42.6 million financing package from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for a 76 MW solar project in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan. The $42.6 million package consists of an EBRD loan of up to $28 million, a concessional loan of up to $11.5 million provided by the Green Climate Fund, and a concessional loan of up to $3.1 million provided by the Climate Investment Funds’ Clean Technology Fund.

Iberdrola, a Spain-based electric utility company, has reached an agreement with Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) to acquire 100% of Acacia Renewables, a Japan-based renewable energy developer. Acacia Renewables has two offshore wind projects under development with a total capacity of 1.2 GW. It also has four projects in the pipeline, with a total capacity of 2.1 GW. Iberdrola will hold an equal share in the six projects alongside GIG, and both partners will develop the portfolio. The company also acquired the French renewable energy company Aalto Power and made agreements to develop 165 MW of onshore wind power in Scotland.

The Desjardins Group Pension Plan and Desjardins Financial Security have partnered with Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure, to acquire a majority stake in a portfolio of U.S. renewable power assets from EDP Renováveis (EDPR). EDPR has developed four wind projects currently in operation and one construction-stage solar project. When all the projects, located in the states of Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Ohio, are in operation, they will combine for more than 560 MW. EDPR will stay on as a minority shareholder and continue to operate and manage the projects.

Q-Energy, the energy investment vehicle of Qualitas Equity, has bought from Sener and Masdar three solar thermal projects in Spain from Concentrated Solar Power Torresol Energy Investments. The projects are located in Seville and Cádiz. The three solar thermal projects have a generation capacity of 120 MW, enough to supply 100,000 homes.

Nexamp, a Massachusetts-based solar energy solutions provider, is acquiring a 50 MW portfolio comprising of ten community solar projects from Dimension Energy. Nexamp will build the assets and manage customer subscriptions with its in-house teams as the long-term project owner. The development works were carried out by Dimension Energy’s development team with local landowners in early 2019. The first tranche of projects is fully permitted, with the remainder expected to receive final approvals by the end of 2020. 

Spanish solar power developer Audax Renovables has issued €20 million (~$23.68 million) of green bonds to fund eight solar projects with a combined capacity of 40 MW. The bonds have maturity within two years and are part of the company’s up to €400 million (~$473.77 million) fixed-income bond program, registered in the Alternative Fixed-Income Market.

Climate ER, the UK based, utility-scale renewable energy developer focused on solar PV, and distributed generation assets have secured funding to develop £250 million (~$321.88 million) worth of utility-scale solar projects in the U.K. The company is targeting the development of a 500 MW pipeline within the next two years.

Vortex Energy, a global renewable energy platform managed by Beaufort Investments, a subsidiary of the private equity arm of EFG Hermes, has completed the sale of its controlling and managing stake in Vortex Solar (Vortex III), a 365 MW solar PV portfolio. The project was acquired in 2017 from TerraForm Power, at an enterprise value of £500 million (~$647 million). The stake was sold to TNB International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), an existing shareholder in the business and one of South East Asia’s largest utilities.

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.

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