Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has closed a non-recourse long-term project financing credit facility for the Monegros portfolio investment of 12 onshore wind farms with a total installed capacity of 487 MW in Aragon, Spain.
Six leading Spanish and European banks, including ABN AMRO, Bankia, Bankinter, BBVA, Sabadell and Unicredit, have pledged approximately €380 million of non-recourse long-term debt funding available for drawdown upon the wind farms starting commercial operations.
Only the capital given by CI-III will continue to be used to fund construction.
The financing was independently approved as a Green Loan under the 2018 Green Loan Principles.
“The closing of the Green Loan financing of Monegros on attractive terms marks another important milestone for our Monegros investment. This project matches our strategic focus on large scale renewable energy investments that can generate attractive and stable long-term returns for our investors. It is one of the largest market parity renewable energy investments made in Europe to date, demonstrating CIP’s ability to identify and execute projects that will contribute meaningfully towards Europe’s green transition. We would like to thank the lenders and the advisors involved for successfully completing this transaction, despite a challenging market environment.”
Christian Skakkebæk, senior partner at CIP.
BBVA acted as structuring bank and green loan coordinator for the debt financing. Uría Menéndez acted as legal advisor to the lenders and Watson Farley & Williams as legal advisor to the sponsor. Aurora Energy Research acted as market consultant, DNV GL as technical advisor and Marsh as insurance advisor. PricewaterhouseCoopers provided financial model development, support and audit. On PPA, CIP was advised by Our New Energy (commercial) and Watson Farley & Williams (legal). Chatham Financial acted as hedging advisor to the sponsor.
The construction phase is progressing well and the wind farms remain on schedule and on budget, despite Covid-19 creating a difficult climate for building activities in Spain. First power has been achieved, and the wind farms will slowly meet the date of commercial operations (COD) over the next 12 months.
The portfolio is expected to produce around 1.5 TWh of renewable power annually when it is in full service, adequate to meet the demand of approximately 430.000 Spanish households.
The electricity generated by the Monegros wind farms will be sold under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), paying a fixed price for each MWh.
In total, the Monegros wind farms are projected to sell nearly 12 TWh of renewable energy under the PPA, making it the largest renewable energy purchase agreement signed in Europe to date.
