Two Spanish clean energy developers, Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente and Bruc, have raised a total of €2.3 billion ($2.43 billion) renewable energy financing from separate lenders to build 14.1 GW new clean energy capacity in Europe.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a framework financing of up to €1.7 billion ($1.8 billion) for Solaria Energia to support the construction of 5.6 GW new solar PV capacity. This capacity is expected to come online by 2028-end, when it will generate a combined 9.29 TWh/year.
Some 120 PV projects Solaria plans to build under the arrangement are spread across in Spain, Italy and Portugal. More than 1/3rd of this capacity will be located in less developed regions where the GDP/capita is less than 75% of the EU average, according to the company.
These solar power plants are expected to create around 11,100 jobs a year during construction phase, according to the bank that has issued this long-term project finance under the InvestEU program. It says this will trigger more than €372 billion in additional investment during 2021 and 2027. The initial loan of €278 million will be used to construct 1.08 GW capacity.
Solaria's President Enrique Díaz-Tejeiro said, "This financing means we will have more than enough funding to meet our needs and achieve our roadmap target of 6.2 GW by 2025." The company aims for 18 GW total capacity in its portfolio by 2030 (see Spanish Solar Developer Aims For 18 GW Capacity By 2030).
7 lenders for Bruc's 8.5 GW portfolio
Solaria's compatriot Bruc has secured a financing agreement for €600 million ($634 million) from 7 entities to bring online 8.5 GW solar and wind energy assets in Spain.
The projects in Aragón, Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León regions of Spain, include hybrid solar and wind assets as well. Bruc said it is also developing several renewable energy storage projects.
The 7 lenders are Santander, ING, Instituto de Crédito Oficial, BNP Paribas and Intesa Sanpaolo as bookrunners and MLAs, and Schroders Capital and Infranity, as MLAs.
Bruc said the financing has been substantiated under the corporate sustainable financing formula since the lenders have considered Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria.
Currently, Bruc has 8.5 GW solar and wind power plants with access to the grid in the Iberia Peninsula and another 100 MW in Japan. Of this capacity, 1.1 GW is operational and in an advanced construction stage.