Solar developer ReneSola Power has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with asset management outfit Eiffel Investment Group to set up a joint venture that will finance ReneSola’s European photovoltaic projects.
The joint venture would potentially develop up to 1GW of solar projects in the next several years across Europe.
Under the MoU Renesola will have a 51% stake and Eiffel the remaining 41% shareholding.
Renesola Europe CEO Josef Kastner said: “We are excited to form a joint venture with Eiffel Investment Group, a long-term strategic partner and proven leader in business financing.
“Our industry requires efficient and scalable financing models to meet demand.
“We expect the joint venture to help facilitate the development of our existing pipeline of project opportunities and prospective projects that meet our development criteria.”
Renesola CEO Yumin Liu added: “We received a handful of offers across Europe and ultimately selected Eiffel for this partnership.
“The new joint venture clearly demonstrates Eiffel Investment Group’s confidence in our ability to successfully develop and build projects in various target markets.
“Importantly, the joint venture fits well with our growth strategy, enabling us to further expand our project development activities across Europe and set a high standard for the sustainable development of the solar industry.”
Eiffel will make capital contributions to the joint venture as qualifying projects are constructed in the targeted markets in Europe.
ReneSola will lead the project identification and development process.
Both partners will then determine the best methodology to value the projects.
Once constructed, the projects will be sold by the joint venture.
Eiffel managing director Pierre-Antoine Machelon said: “We are very excited by this promising expansion of our partnership with ReneSola Power.
“This innovative transaction leverages their strong experience of PV development in Europe and our capacity to bring financial resources at the most critical stages of the projects’ life cycles.”