Money Flowing In For Solar Power Plants In Europe

• MaxSolar GmbH has secured €410 million for 2 GW of solar and open space storage projects in Germany
• IKAV Fund has shelled out €65 million for Forestalia to support the development of 767 MW wind and solar energy projects in Spain
• L&G NTR Clean Power (Europe) plans to invest €50 million from NordLB for 115 MW PV capacity in Spain

As demand for clean energy in Europe grows, renewable energy projects here continue to attract investors with the latest announcements coming from MaxSolar GmbH of Germany, Forestalia of Spain, and L&G NTR Clean Power (Europe) that have together raised €525 million for more than 2.8 GW wind and solar capacity.

Germany based renewable energy projects developer MaxSolar has landed itself €410 million financing facility to support 2 GW solar and open space storage projects over the next 5 years.

Money has been pooled in by institutional investors Infranity, I Squared Capital and Rivage Investment, with €165 million available in the 1^st tranch. It can be expanded with a 2^nd tranche of €245 million.

According to the management, this financing also enables the further development and implementation of its current 6.5 GW solar project pipeline. Proceeds will be used to expand the company's current capabilities along the entire project development value chain, including hiring new talent. MaxSolar is a subsidiary of Portugal based Greenvolt.

In Spain, Forestalia has raised €65 million from asset manager IKAV Fund to develop its 12 new wind farms and 7 PV projects in Aragon region with a combined capacity of 767 MW.

The funding, coordinated and structured by Banco Sabadell, will enable the development of this capacity before it enters construction.

Forestalia said all of these 19 projects will be owned by the company. On completion, these will expand its operational self-owned portfolio to exceed 1.2 GW. It claims to have more than 6 GW wind, solar and biomass projects in the pipeline.

Recently, a joint venture (JV) between asset manager Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) and renewable energy company NTR, L&G NTR Clean Power (Europe) achieved financial closure of €50 million for 115 MW PV capacity.

This money from NordLB will help it develop a combined capacity of 115 MW in Spain's Castilla la Mancha and Andalucia. L&G said all three projects have secured 10-year power purchase agreements (PPA) with Nestlé Spain and Nestlé Portugal, Huhtamaki and Holaluz.