Top Spanish bank backs fully merchant 79.2MW PV project

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

One of Spain’s largest banks has gotten behind a utility-scale solar portfolio, planned without support from auctions nor power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Banco Sabadell, a financier sitting on some €222 billion (around US$250 billion) in total assets last year, has agreed to back a 79.2MW PV pipeline Renovalia is planning in the Ciudad Real province.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The bank will supply a €29.7 million (around US$32 million) senior credit to finance construction of the five-plant solar cluster, planned near the city of Puertollano.

Contacted by PV Tech today, a source with knowledge of the transaction said the debt-to-equity ratio will lie around the 75%-to-25% mark.

The 79.2MW portfolio will in principle be developed without a PPA, directly selling its power output to the market on a merchant basis.

Law firm J&A Garrigues advised Renovalia Energy during the financing talks, while lawyers at energy, real estate and transport specialist Watson Farley & Williams counselled Banco Sabadell.

The transaction looks set to further boost Spain’s credentials as a European hotspot for zero-subsidy solar, drawing anew the eyes of foreign developers after years of policy uncertainty.

Unsubsidised activity to date has centred around PPA-driven moves, including deals by Statkraft (270MW) BayWa r.e. (175MW), Luxcara (121MW), aventron (50MW) and potential forays by Solaria.

As the utility-scale pipeline gathers steam, so do concerns around how players will navigate merchant risks, set to kick in as increasingly shorter PPAs expire.

At an Intersolar 2019 session attended by PV Tech, Sean Maguire, commercial VP for European PV and wind at Statkraft, explained his firm is amongst those eyeing greater merchant exposure.

“Will merchant solar become the norm? We don’t believe so,” he commented. “But as portfolios grow and subsidies start to fall away, funds and investors may start to look into owning around 20-30% of their portfolios on a merchant basis.”

2 December 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.
10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

June 18, 2025
Spain has released the results of its investigation into the April blackout, which ruled out renewables as the cause of the disruption.
Premium
June 18, 2025
Aesolar and Fraunhofer CSP are developing segmented solar modules optimised for rooftops with partial shading.
June 17, 2025
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest €1.6 billion to support the construction of the Bay of Biscay interconnector.
June 17, 2025
Blue Elephant Energy has received a €200 million (US$214 million) investment from European asset management company Infranity.
Premium
June 13, 2025
The European PPA space could see more tailored PPAs and hybrid deals, according to experts at the Renewables Procurement & Revenue summit.
Sponsored
June 12, 2025
At this year’s Intersolar Europe event, held in Munich, Germany, Solavita launched a new hybrid inverter for the C&I sectors.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico