Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has closed a non-recourse long-term project financing credit facility for its investment in the 487MW Monegros portfolio of 12 wind projects in Spain.
The Monegros complex, in Aragon, is part of Copenhagen Infrastructure 3, a €3.5bn energy infrastructure fund managed by CIP.
CIP said the wind farms remain on time and on budget, despite Covid-19 causing a challenging environment for construction activities in Spain.
First power has been achieved and the wind farms will gradually reach commercial operations date (COD) over the next approximately 12 months.
The wind farms will deploy 129 GE 3.8-130 wind turbines in total, supplied and installed by GE Renewable Energy.
GE Renewable Energy will also provide operational and maintenance services for the turbines under a long-term service agreement.
The power generated by the Monegros wind farms will be sold under power purchase agreements (PPAs), entered into earlier this year, which will cover the majority of output generated by the wind farms for 10 years from COD.
In total, it is expected that the Monegros wind farms will sell 12 terawatt-hours of of renewable power under the PPA, making it the largest renewable power purchase agreement signed to date in Europe.
Six Spanish and European banks, comprising ABN AMRO, Bankia, Bankinter, BBVA, Sabadell and Unicredit, have committed around €380m of non-recourse long-term debt financing available for drawdown upon the wind farms commencing commercial operations.
Construction will continue to be funded solely with capital provided by the fund.
The financing has been independently validated as a Green Loan under the Green Loan Principles 2018.
CIP senior partner Christian Skakkebaek said: “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.”
BBVA acted as structuring bank and green loan coordinator for the debt financing.
Uria Menendez acted as legal advisor to the lenders, Watson Farley & Williams as legal advisor to the sponsor and Our New Energy as PPA advisor to CIP.
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.
CIP’s fund acquired the Monegros portfolio in development phase through two transactions in 2019 from Forestalia Renovables, a Spanish developer that has continued to develop the portfolio in cooperation with CIP.
The balance of plant (BoP) works is being executed by leading Spanish contractors Copsa, Elecnor and GES.
Construction management is provided by Blue Power Partners and asset management will be provided by PeakWind.