From: Mercom Capital Group

The African Development Bank (AfDB)’s board of directors has approved $27.2 million in loan financing for the design, construction, and operation of a 200 MW solar project at Kom Ombo in Upper Egypt. The project’s cost is estimated at $156.4 million. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Green Climate Fund, Arab Bank, and the OPEC Fund for International Development will also contribute funding. The project is owned by ACWA Power, a solar project developer.

RIC Energy (RIC), a renewable energy project developer focused on delivering renewable energy and energy storage facilities throughout the U.S., and Goldman Sachs Renewable Power (GSRP), a privately held company managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, announced a partnership to develop a portfolio of solar projects in New York. Under this partnership, GSRP will acquire 47 MW of community solar projects located in upstate New York from RIC. The nine projects involved are located throughout National Grid and NYSEG service areas and will generate bill credits to be sold directly to the utilities’ customers.

Distributed Solar Development, a business-backed by BlackRock Real Assets’ Global Renewable Power platform and GE Renewable Energy, announced it had secured a two-year, $150 million construction revolver with Rabobank to finance its expanding pipeline of distributed generation solar projects in the commercial and industrial market.

Adapture Renewables, a solar project developer, has completed its acquisition of Rippey Solar, an 81 MW solar project in Cooke County, Texas, from Hanwha Q CELLS U.S. Construction of the project, located 90 miles north of Dallas, began in April, and the project achieved commercial operation in December 2020.

NextEnergy Solar Fund has announced the acquisition of Camden solar PV portfolio in the U.K., comprising two projects totaling 100 MW for £64.3m (~$89.4 million). The two solar projects – The Grange, a 50 MW project spread across 214 acres in Yorkshire, and South Lowfield, which has a 50 MW spread across a 200-acre site in Nottinghamshire. The portfolio provides energy for a power purchase agreement with AB InBev.

InfraCo Africa, a part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group, and its project partner, JCM Power, announced their commitment to finance the construction of the 20 MW Golomoti solar project in Malawi with a 5 MW/10 MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system. The project is expected to come online in the first half of 2021.

ENGIE, an electric utility, has reached an agreement to acquire from Abengoa a 40% equity stake in Xina Solar One, a 100 MW concentrated solar plant, and 46% of the Operations & Maintenance Company. The project is equipped with parabolic trough technology and a molten salt storage system that allows for 5.5 hours of energy storage to provide reliable electricity during peak demand. Power is contracted through a 20-year power purchase agreement with Eskom (South African Electricity Public Utility).

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.