Project Finance Brief: Buckeye Partners Acquires 270 MW Solar Project from OCI Solar Power

From: Mercom Capital Group
U.S. petroleum distributor Buckeye Partners has acquired a 270 MW construction-ready solar project – Project Parker, from OCI Solar Power. OCI Solar Power develops, constructs, finances, owns, and operates utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects in the U.S. Project Parker includes two sites located on adjacent land in Falls County, Texas. OCI Solar Power has secured site control and completed all permitting and electrical interconnection agreements. Buckeye plans to start project design and construction later this year. The project will be completed by Q1 2023.
ACWA Power, a developer, owner, and operator of power generation projects has announced the financial close for the 1,500 MW Sudair solar project under the Public Investment Fund (PIF) renewable energy program. With an investment value of SAR 3.4 billion (~$0.9 billion), the Sudair solar PV project, located at Sudair Industrial city, is set to become one of the largest single-contracted solar PV projects in the world and the largest of its kind in Saudi Arabia. The financing group includes Mizuho Bank, Riyad Bank, Korea Development Bank, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation, and Standard Chartered Bank as senior lenders and Mandated Lead Arrangers. The equity bridge facilities are provided by Bank Al Bilad, Saudi British Bank, and SMBC International.
Soltage, an independent power producer, and Harrison Street, an investment management firm focused on alternative real assets, announced an investment in a 20 MW portfolio of community solar assets and Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) solar projects located in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maine. The portfolio serves customers, including investor-owned utilities purchasing electricity via PURPA contracts and U.S. businesses buying solar energy to meet clean energy goals and lock in reduced electricity costs.
Japan’s Orix Bank has extended JPY 3.1 billion (~$28.2 million) in green debt for the construction of a 45 MW solar project in Niigata prefecture proposed by domestic developer Renewable Japan. The debt will support Renewable Japan’s investment into a special purpose company (SPC) to build and operate the project.
German project developer SOWITEC Group has completed the sale of a solar PV project in the development phase, located in the state of Alagoas in North-East Brazil, to a major international power utility. The project has a capacity of up to 400 MW.
SSE, a multinational energy company, headquartered in Perth, has acquired project development rights from Harmony Energy, a utility-scale battery energy storage project developer, to develop its first 50 MW battery storage asset on a consented site Wiltshire. The developer plans to bring the project to a financial close and construct the battery storage facility at Salisbury over the next 18 months.
UK renewables fund Bluefield Solar has closed the acquisitions of a ready-to-build 45 MW solar and 25 MW co-located battery project. Bluefield has acquired these fully consented solar and storage projects for approximately £5 million (~$6.9 million) from EQUANS (re-branded from ENGIE Renewables). The co-located project is based in northeast Lincolnshire and is expected to begin construction during 2022.
Spanish electric utility Endesa has acquired a 350 MW portfolio of wind and solar PV projects in Spain from ABO Wind Espana, a company within German renewables group ABO Wind. ABO Wind developed the entire portfolio and will continue to do so until the projects reach the ready-to-build stage. Endesa, which acquired the projects through its renewables arm Enel Green Power Espana, will invest €315 million (~$369.7 million) – a price that includes the purchase and construction costs of the projects. The portfolio contains three wind and two solar projects sited in the Spanish province of Cuenca. Construction of the projects is slated to commence in autumn of 2021, while the commissioning is seen at the end of 2022.
Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) has advised Banco Sabadell on the financing of a 50 Huelva MW solar PV project in Andalusia, Spain. Banco Sabadell acted as the lender for the structured loan granted to the SPV that owns the project, managed by Bruc Alter Energías Renovables. WFW also acted as a legal advisor to Bruc on the financing of the acquisition.
Spanish electric utility Endesa has acquired a 48 MW portfolio of solar projects in Spain from Arena Power, a developer of solar projects and an independent power producer. The company bought three solar PV projects located in Cordoba province through its renewables arm Enel Green Power Espana. Endesa will invest €38.5 million (~$45.3 million), a price that includes the costs of purchase and construction of the projects. Construction of the projects is slated to commence in 2023 for an estimated nine-month period.
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Read last week’s project finance brief.
Image credit: Lightsource BP