From: Mercom Capital Group

ReneSola Power, a solar project developer, entered into an agreement to sell two ground-mounted solar projects in Romania with a combined capacity of 15.4 MW to Alternus Energy Group, an independent power producer. The two ground-mounted solar projects include 9.4 MW solar project located in the municipality of Costestii din Vale in Dambovita county, operated by Ecosfer Energy, and a 6 MW solar project located in the municipality of Dumbrava in Prahova county, operated by Lucas Est SRL. Both Ecosfer Energy and Lucas Est SRL are special purpose vehicles (SPVs) set up to manage the construction and operation of the solar projects.

Gresham House Energy Storage Fund, an operational utility-scale battery storage fund, has conditionally agreed to acquire a c.30 MW Byers Brae battery project near Wester Dechmont, Livingston in West Lothian, Scotland. The project will be acquired from Gresham House DevCo and Noriker Power. Once completed, the acquisition increases the total capacity of operational utility-scale battery storage projects in the fund’s investment portfolio to 345 MW.

Grenergy, a project developer and an Independent Power Producer, signed a green financing greement worth €96.7 million (~$117.83 million) with KFW and Bankinter to construction develop the Escuderos solar project in Cuenca. Through this agreement, KFW IPEX-Bank will assume two-thirds of the senior debt – approximately €64 million (~$77.98 million) – while Bankinter will finance the remaining amount – around €32 million (~$39 million). This project finance includes the financing of the debt for the construction period and 17 additional years.

Sonnedix acquired an operating Solar PV portfolio from Hanau Investissements. The 8.3 MW portfolio comprises three ground-mounted PV projects, operating since 2016, located in the Southeast of France. It includes two projects connected to a private substation owned by Sonnedix in Les Mées.

Sonnedix also completed the acquisition of a 150 MW solar PV project from the solar project developer RTB Energy. The transaction includes the co-development of the project. The project, located in Pelequén, Chile, started development activities in 2020 and is expected to start construction work by mid-2022. Sonnedix was advised by Guerrero Olivos and RTB Energy by Cubillos Evans.

Mytilineos, through its Renewables and Storage Development business unit, has acquired a 110 MW Moura solar project in Queensland from ESCO Pacific, a solar project developer. The project has already secured a PPA with CS Energy, a Queensland Government-owned energy company. This acquisition brings Mytilineos’ Australian portfolio to 400 MW, totaling 120 MW, which is currently under construction.

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, announced a preferred equity investment in an approximately 1.6 GW onshore wind and utility-scale solar portfolio developed and managed by Clearway Energy Group, a developer and operator of clean energy in the U.S. with a pipeline of 9 GW of renewable energy through 2022. The large-scale, diversified, and highly contracted renewables portfolio includes 874 MW of onshore wind, 192 MW of utility-scale solar, and 557 MW of utility-scale solar with 395 MW of co-located storage (seven projects in total) located in four states: California, Hawaii, Texas, and West Virginia.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing an equity bridge loan of up to $60 million to Nur Navoi Solar for the construction and operation of a 100 MW solar PV project in the Navoi region of Uzbekistan. The loan will allow the project investors Masdar, owned by Mubadala Investment Company, to borrow the amount of equity it is putting into the project. It will be complemented by a financial package of up to $60 million arranged by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Asia Development Bank (ADB). The financing package includes a senior loan of up to $20 million from IFC’s own account, financing of up to $20 million from Canada-IFC Blended Climate Finance Program, and a loan of up to $20 million from the ADB.

Greenbacker Renewable Energy, a renewable energy investment firm, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, acquired an 80 MWac /104 MWdc pre-operational Graphite Solar I solar project from rPlus Energies. The project is located in Carbon County, Utah, and has a long-term power purchase agreement in place with the utility PacifiCorp on behalf of Facebook. The project supports Facebook’s goal of 100% renewable energy for its operations and is expected to reach commercial operations in Q4 2021.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company – alongside partners Masdar, EDF Renewables, and JinkoPower – announced financial closing of the Al Dhafra Solar PV Independent Power Producer project. The project,  located in Abu Dhabi city, will have a capacity of 2 GW and will supply power to Emirates Water and Electricity Company. Once operational, the project will be the world’s largest single-site solar project, using approximately four million solar panels to generate enough electricity for approximately 160,000 homes across the UAE. Financing for the project will come from seven international banks, following the signing of the power purchase agreement in July 2020.

Singapore-based developer Keppel Renewable Energy has signed an agreement to acquire a 45% stake in Harlin Solar to develop a 500 MW greenfield solar PV project in Queensland, Australia. The acquisition is subject to approval by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board. Keppel Renewable Energy will take the lead role in developing and managing the construction and operation of the solar project. This includes undertaking the grid connection studies, assessing the site and technology requirements, sourcing for offtakers as well as project management of the engineering, procurement, and construction of the solar project. Construction of the solar project is projected to commence in 2022 and be completed in 2023.

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.