Acciona Energia has reached an agreement with Elawan Energy, a subsidiary of ORIX Corporation, to sell its Spanish hydropower portfolio for the €287m.
The 23 assets, totalling 175MW of capacity, are all in operation and free of debt.
The hydropower facilities are located in the regions of Aragon, Cantabria and Catalonia.
The transaction is subject to mandatory prior authorisation for foreign investment and is expected to close before the end of the year.
It will generate a capital gain for Acciona Energia of around €170m.
The hydroelectric portfolio represents 20% of Acciona Energia’s installed hydroelectric capacity, and has an average annual production of around 500GWh.
The facilities are small and medium-sized reservoir (77% of capacity) and flowing plants (23% of capacity).
The projects have long-term concession agreements with a remaining average life of 23 years.
Acciona Energia chief executive Rafael Mateo said “this transaction highlights the quality of our generation portfolio, and represents an important milestone in our asset rotation strategy, highlighting the divergence between public and private market valuations”.
Elawan chief executive Dionisio Fernandez added that “by adding this hydroelectric portfolio to our existing renewable energy sources, we intend to further stabilize our energy production and build a strong long-term profit base”.
Credit Agricole acted as financial advisor to Acciona Energia in the transaction.