Aquila Capital secures financing to construct 2.6GW of renewables in Spain and Portugal

September 7, 2022
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
A 50MW solar project from Aquila Capital in the Spanish region of Andalucía. Image: Aquila Capital.

German investment firm Aquila Capital has raised €1 billion (US$992 million) in financing to support the development and construction of a 2.6GW renewables pipeline in Spain and Portugal over the next three years.

Predominantly solar PV and wind assets, the pipeline features more than 50 projects from Aquila Clean Energy EMEA, Aquila Capital’s clean energy development platform in Europe.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

While Aquila Capital has not disclosed the capacity for each technology in the pipeline, the company confirmed to PV Tech that the vast majority will be solar PV.

The €1 billion build-to-sell construction facility consists of €400 million credit from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is the European Union’s lending arm, and €600 million from a consortium of banks including Santander, NatWest, KfW IPEX-Bank, BNP Paribas, ING, Intesa SanPaolo and Banco Sabadell.

For the total project volume of more than €2 billion, the remaining amount of more than €1 billion comes from funds managed by Aquila Capital and from the company’s capital.

The EIB said the short-term construction financing is groundbreaking as the development bank mainly acted as a long-term lender in the infrastructure space in the past.

“This construction facility is the first of its kind and a landmark transaction for the EIB,” said Ricardo Mourinho Félix, EIB vice-president.

The project was made possible because of an EU budget guarantee under the InvestEU programme, which allows the EIB to increase its risk-taking capacity and, in this case, to assume electricity merchant risk under a non-recourse financing structure as the transaction does not involve any price hedge mechanism such as a power purchase agreement.

The transaction constitutes the largest financing in the history of Aquila Capital, according to Susanne Wermter, CEO of Aquila Clean Energy EMEA. “It demonstrates the creditability and appeal of our clean energy assets that aim to actively shape the European energy transition,” she said.

A developer and operator of solar, wind, hydropower and battery storage assets, Aquila Clean Energy currently manages a portfolio totalling more than 8.2GW.

Earlier this year, Aquila Capital acquired 100MW of solar in Spain from Mytilineos and bought a 51% stake in a portfolio of 15 PV plants in Italy from Powertis.

The investment firm has since formed a joint venture with renewables developer TopInfra to develop solar PV, wind and battery energy storage system projects in South Korea.

For the EIB, the deal comes after it announced earlier in the year it would provide loans to support the addition of 430MW of solar PV and wind in Spain and Portugal.

The bank recently signed solar financing agreements with both independent power producer Opdenergy and utility Iberdrola.

Read Next

October 23, 2025
The average price of a solar PPA signed in Europe in Q3 2025 fell below €35/MWh, reaching €34.25/MWh, according to LevelTen Energy.
October 23, 2025
Infrastructure investment firm Nuveen Infrastructure has secured US$171 million in financing for a 137MW solar PV plant in South Korea.
October 23, 2025
Aviva Investors and Astatine have announced an €800 million (US$928 million) investment in renewable energy and decarbonisation solutions.
October 22, 2025
Recurrent Energy, Ampliform and Dimension Energy have announced new financing rounds this month for US solar projects.
Premium
October 21, 2025
PV Tech Premium spoke with academic and industry experts about the rising tide of cybersecurity concerns in Europe's solar energy sector.
October 21, 2025
Cypress Creek Renewables has achieved financial close on its 75MW Sundance solar-plus-storage project in Elbert County, Colorado.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
Solar Media Events
March 24, 2026
Lisbon, Portugal