Aquila European Renewables Income Fund (AERIF) has closed a refinancing of the 40MWW Desfina wind farm in Greece.
AERIF’s wholly owned subsidiary, which owns an 89% interest in Desfina, successfully closed a refinancing of the existing bank debt.
Desfina comprises two wind farms with an aggregate capacity of approximately 40MW supported by a 20 year, feed-in premium for 100% of production.
Desfina is expected to have an operating life of 25 years.
The refinanced bank debt has a principal amount of approximately €38m, with a tenor of close to 18 years and is fully amortising and hedged.
Proceeds from the refinancing will be used to fully repay the existing debt and cover transaction costs.
Compared to the existing bank debt in place, the refinancing resulted in a reduction of the margin by 75 bps per annum, a reduction in annual debt amortisation by approximately 30% per annum over the next 10 years and an extension of tenor by approximately 4.5 years.
The existing bank debt was inherited as part of the acquisition of the asset by AERIF in December 2020.
AERIF chairman Ian Nolan said: “We are pleased to have secured the refinancing at such attractive terms.
“In coordination with our Investment Adviser, we identified a refinancing as a potential source of upside to our business case when we first acquired the asset.
“The refinancing was ultimately concluded at terms which exceeded our upside case at the time of acquisition.”