The NTR Clean Power Fund has financed three Spanish solar power projects with a combined capacity of 115MWp, alongside UK-based financier NordLB.
The fund is operated by Legal & General Investment Management, an arm of UK-based financial services company Legal & General, and NTR, a renewable power asset manager whose headquarters are in Ireland. Money from the fund will support the three projects, two of which are under construction, and one of which is planned to begin commercial operations by the end of this month.
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Two of the projects will be located in the regions of Castilla la Mancha while the remaining one will be in the Southern Spanish region of Andalusia. Nestlé Spain and Nestlé Portugal, Huhtamaki and Holaluz have all signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) to use electricity generated by the projects.
“This is a substantial financing which we have successfully closed in a more challenging environment, proving that quality clean power projects and a strong sponsor can still attract favourable terms,” said NTR chief investment officer Anthony Doherty. “We are delighted to continue our strong relationship with NordLB and to have them involved in this project, which is helping to accelerate the energy transition across Europe.”
NordLB is the sole debt provider for the projects and has committed around €50 million (US$56.2 million) in debt financing for a term of 18 years. In April this year, Legal & General and NTR announced that they had raised €390 million for the fund, and the companies’ investments in solar power will be welcomed by the solar sector, where many large-scale projects need considerable financial support to get off the ground.
Legal & General also noted that it had worked with a number of other companies on these projects, including Pinset Masons, Vector Renewables and Squire Patton Boggs. The successful collaboration of such a range of organisations, from the legal sector to the renewables industry, is a similar cause for optimism regarding the long-term viability of cross-industry solar financing.
The news follows the signing of a PPA by Iberdrola and Vodafone for the former’s projects in Spain, Portugal and Germany, as companies from a number of sectors look to involve themselves in the growing solar industry.