Project Finance Brief: VTRM Acquires 635 MW Jaiba V Solar Project in Brazil

From: Mercom Capital Group
Canadian Solar, a manufacturer of solar PV modules, provider of solar energy and battery storage solutions, and VTRM, a renewable energy company in Brazil, announced the sale of a 635 MW Jaiba V solar project to VTRM. The project, located in the Northeastern state of Minas Gerais, is in an advanced stage of development and is expected to begin construction in 2022 and reach commercial operation in 2023.
Nala Renewables, a renewable energy investment, and development platform, has signed an acquisition agreement for a 150 MW portfolio of solar PV projects under development and construction in Chile from renewable energy developer Solek. The portfolio is expected to be fully operational over the next two years and operate under Chile’s special regime for distributed generation projects (the PMGD regime). Solek will perform the engineering, procurement, and construction contracts (EPC) and operation and maintenance contracts (O&M) for the projects. Moonvalley Capital also acted as a financial advisor to Nala Renewables and the minority investors for this transaction.
India-based renewable energy platform Ayana Renewable Power Private Limited has announced a deal to acquire a 100% equity stake in a 250 MW solar PV project developed and operated by ACME Solar Holdings Private Limited. The project, located in Jodhpur, is connected to the inter-state transmission system and supplies power to Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd under a long-term Power Purchase Agreement.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, an investment manager, entered into a definitive agreement with Dynamic Energy Solutions, a commercial and utility-scale solar project developer, for the acquisition of approximately 70 MW of distributed solar generation project portfolio in the state of Maine. The portfolio comprises 11 projects throughout Maine, including Corinth, Madison, Norridgewock, Enfield, Exeter, Glenburn, Gray, Guilford, Leeds, and Wales. The project portfolio is expected to come online in 2022 and 2023 and will connect to the local electric distribution systems in Central Maine Power and Versant utility territories.
Standard Solar, a solar energy company specializing in developing and financing solar electric systems nationwide, has acquired 10 MW of community solar projects in Oregon. The energy produced by the three ground-mount community solar arrays will allow residents and businesses in the Portland General Electric (PGE) and Pacific Power service territories to benefit from clean energy savings by offsetting their electricity bills with solar energy. T projects include a 10% savings to low-to-moderate income (LMI) subscribers.
BW Solar, a subsidiary of BW Solar and Capital Power, signed a Membership Interest Purchase and Sale Agreement, whereby Capital Power will acquire 100% of a portfolio of 20 solar and energy storage development portfolios in the U.S. The portfolio has a total generation capacity of approximately 1,298 MW, with sites ranging from 15 MW to 340 MW. The portfolio also offers the potential to co-locate over 1200 MWh of energy storage. The majority of the projects are in the MISO, PJM, and SERC electricity markets, and all are in the interconnection queues of their respective regional transmission organization.
Luxembourg-based special fund FP Lux Investments has acquired a portfolio of three solar PV projects in Germany totaling 27.5 MW capacity for its RE Infrastructure Opportunities fund. Vattenfall Deutschland, part of Swedish electric utility Vattenfall AB, developed the projects and sold the finished plants to FP Lux for an undisclosed price. The acquired portfolio contains two solar projects of 10 MW each and another 7.5 MW, benefiting from Germany’s EEG feed-in-tariff scheme. The third project has a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Vattenfall Energy Trading.
ERG, through its subsidiary ERG Power Generation, together with GEI Subasta 1 SA, has signed an agreement to acquire the entire capital of two project companies under Spanish law. These companies own two solar projects in operation in the Castilla de la Mancha and Andalusia regions of southern Spain, with a capacity of 50.0 and 41.6 MW, respectively, totaling 91.6 MW. The projects were commissioned in early 2020. The transaction’s purchase price is €96.2 million (~$ 104.7 million.
Ence Energia, Ence’s renewable energy subsidiary, is selling a portfolio of five solar PV projects totaling 373 MW in southern Spain to utility Naturgy. The purchase price amounts to a total of €62 million (~$70 million), which Ence will reinvest to continue developing new projects, focusing on renewable energy generated with biomass and photovoltaics, as well as energy storage.
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Read last week’s project finance brief.