The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Natixis have signed a €97m finance contract for the construction of a 45MW wind farm on Sicily.
The financing is for Libeccio, a special purpose vehicle owned by Fabbrica Energie Rinnovabili Alternative (FERA) and Byom, building the array.
Set to be operational by 2026, the Vento di Vino 2 facility will be built in Mazara del Vallo in the province of Trapani.
In addition to the construction of the new wind farm, the contracts will help refinance the residual debt of Libeccio, which owns the existing 24MW Vento di Vino 1 wind farm, also located in Mazara del Vallo.
The overall green loan financing was structured on a project finance basis and includes several credit lines totalling around €97m, with €42m from the EIB and €55m from Natixis CIB.
The operation backs the decarbonisation goals of the European Green Deal and REPowerEU, for which the EIB has committed to providing an additional €45bn in financing by 2027.
EIB estimates also indicate over 270 jobs will be created during the implementation phase of the project, delivering major economic benefits in the cohesion region of Sicily.
The project will involve the existence of a brownfield wind farm (Vento di Vino 1 – operational since 2011), which still has a limited remaining feed-in tariff period, and a greenfield wind farm (Vento di Vino 2), which will benefit from the 20-year contracts for difference available under the relevant legislation, having won auction no13 of 9 February 2024 under the Renewable Energy Sources decree of 4 July 2019.
The financing was structured using residual exposure to merchant risk alongside the contract for difference revenue component.
FERA Group and Libeccio board member Sebastiano Falesi said: “This is another step forward in the Italian energy transition for FERA Group.
“The 44.8MW comes in addition to the 200MW the group has activated since 2001.
“All of this is produced by renewable energy plants, taking advantage of natural resources with positive economic effects supporting the municipalities and regions concerned.”
Byom chief executive and Libeccio chairman Massimiliano Salvi added: “We are proud of this result, representing, on the one hand, the consolidation of the long-term partnership with FERA Group, and on the other, the soundness of our project in line with the objectives of the energy transition and environmental sustainability, as demonstrated by the involvement of premier international financial institutions.”