Oil and gas giant Eni has acquired 1.2GW of Spanish renewables from Madrid-based European private equity manager Azora.
The portfolio includes five large solar energy projects, located across Andalucía, Castilla la Mancha, Castilla y León, Cataluña, Galicia and La Rioja with a cumulative capacity of around 1GW.
The two companies will work together to ensure the solar sites begin production by 2024 as part of a broader strategic agreement designed to further Eni’s renewable energy platform in Spain.
As well as the solar projects, the acquisition includes three operational onshore wind farms and an onshore wind farm that is currently under construction, which collectively total 230MW.
Last year Eni announced plans to deploy 55GW of renewables by 2050 in an effort to slash its absolute emissions by 80% and emissions intensity by 55%. To support this goal, the company entered the Spanish renewables market for the first time in February, securing a deal to acquire three PV projects from local developer X-Elio.
Commenting on the acquisition Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni, said the deal would “reinforce” the company’s growth prospects in a strategic renewables market.
Azora was advised by Lazard as financial adviser and Uría Menéndez as legal adviser.
