Irish independent power producer (IPP) Power Capital Renewable Energy secured project finance worth €125m to construct over 230MW of solar projects in Ireland.
The financing, arranged with lenders composed of Allied Irish Bank (AIB) and La Banque Postale (LBP), is for an aggregate commitment of €125m to fund a portfolio of solar projects totalling 150MW.
The projects are located in counties Cork, Louth and Meath and are supported by long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Microsoft.
The facilities from the second financing will go towards the construction of a single solar farm of 85MW located in county Wexford, which benefits from a long-term PPA with another undisclosed technology company.
All projects are already under construction and are expected to be commissioned over the next nine months.
Power Capital was successfully awarded a 15-year subsidy support for 300MW of solar projects in the 2022 Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS-2) auction.
Power Capital is currently working on deploying a solar and battery storage pipeline of 5 GW in Ireland.
In January 2023, Power Capital secured €240m of construction equity facilities from a consortium of lenders managed by Eiffel Investment Group including Belgian insurance company Ethias and the European Investment Bank.
The facilities will support the IPP’s growth, at home and abroad.
Power Capital has also made advances in the United States, recently acquiring a development platform “Hawthorne Renewables”, its first investment outside of the Irish market.
The Phoenix-based team has developed a pipeline of 5GW of solar and storage across three US markets in New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.
Justin Brown and Peter Duff, Co-CEOs and Founders of Power Capital Renewable Energy, said: “Securing €125m of funding from two major banks is a huge vote of confidence in the future of solar power and corporate power purchase agreements.
“We are delighted to begin construction on these projects which will employ up to 400 people and will boost the renewable energy footprint of Ireland.”