Project Finance Brief: NextEra Energy to Acquire 50% Stake in 2.5 GW Renewable Portfolio

Galp secures $378 million EIB loan to develop solar projects in Spain and Portugal

November 1, 2021

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From: Mercom Capital Group

NextEra Energy Partners has entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources to acquire a 50% interest in an approximately 2,520 MW renewables portfolio. NextEra Energy Partners plans to acquire interests in the assets for a consideration of about $849 million, subject to working capital and other adjustments, plus NextEra Energy Partners’ share of the portfolio’s total tax equity financings, which is estimated to be approximately $866 million at the time of closing. NextEra Energy Partners has also entered into an $824 million convertible equity portfolio financing with Apollo Global Management. NextEra expects to close the acquisition in later 2021 or early 2022.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Galp signed three financing agreements for the construction of solar projects and the deployment of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across Iberia. The agreement announced consists of an EIB green energy loan of up to €325 million (~$377.8 million) to finance the construction of a large number of utility-scale solar PV projects in Spain being developed by Galp and expected to start construction over the next three years, including the ancillary infrastructure for interconnection to the grid. The portfolio includes utility-scale solar PV projects with a total capacity of about 2 GW. With sizes ranging from 24 MW to 449 MW, the projects will be located across Spain’s cohesion regions (Andalusia, Aragon, Castilla la Mancha, and Extremadura). The EIB loan of €40 million (~$46.4 million) will finance Galp’s solar PV project of a capacity of 144 MW in the Algarve region, Portugal.

SolRiver Capital, a solar investment fund, announced the acquisition of a portfolio of utility-scale solar PV projects across the state of North Carolina from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. The portfolio is eight projects throughout North Carolina, totaling 53 MW. Each project is expected to initially operate under a power purchase agreement with the local utility.

Amp, an energy transition platform and renewable energy developer, announced that it has closed financing on its $106.5 million New York portfolio of wholly-owned community solar plus storage projects. The portfolio consists of five separate community solar projects, including three sites paired with battery storage, located throughout central New York State. The 40 MW of solar generation will be fully contracted upon completion by a mix of residential and commercial customers. Amp executed a tax equity agreement with Advantage Capital and a debt financing agreement with CIT’s Power and Energy Business to finance the portfolio.

ERG, through its subsidiary ERG Eolienne France SAS, has completed an agreement with NAEV Austria Beteiligungs to acquire 100% of the capital of the French companies that own a renewable portfolio in operation in France consisting of seven solar PV and three wind projects in France for a total installed capacity of 56.7 and 40.6 MW respectively.

Altus Power, an investor, owner, and operator of clean energy projects announced that it had acquired a 9.9 MW operating solar project in Sussex County, New Jersey. The acquired solar project, located in Lafayette Township, New Jersey, has been operational since 2015. The commercial and industrial project delivers power to local utilities and receives New Jersey solar renewable energy credits. The acquisition adds to the company’s expanding portfolio of operating projects across New Jersey and the United States.

CenterPoint Energy announced its Indiana-based electric and natural gas business, CenterPoint Energy Indiana South, received approval from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to acquire a 300 MW solar project, as well as enter into a power purchase agreement for an additional 100 MW of solar energy as part of the company’s long-term electric generation transition plan. Construction of the solar project with Arevon Energy Management is scheduled to be in service by 2023.

SUSI Partners, on behalf of its Energy Transition Fund (SETF), has signed an agreement with developer BIWO Renovables and their commercial partner Latsolar Energy Investments to acquire a portfolio of distributed renewable energy assets in Chile. The portfolio comprises both solar and wind assets for a total capacity of 200+MW, with projects currently in the late-development stage and expected to start construction in early 2022. Under the agreement, SUSI and BIWO / LatSolar will commit to a long-term partnership for the development of renewables projects, with BIWO continuing to provide asset management services during the construction and operation of the assets.

Green Genius, a European renewable energy developer, has signed a €20 million (~$23.2 million) financing with Eiffel Investment Group’s funds. The company plans to use these funds to finalize the development of solar PV projects in Italy and Spain.

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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