SOLAR INVESTMENTS - FROM FUNDINGS TO PARTNERSHIPS & ACQUISITIONS: WEEK 10

This is a weekly newsletter to keep you updated on the latest developments in solar investments, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, public offerings within the solar industry. These are select stories that have been published on our website - TaiyangNews. If you are interested in weekly updates, please subscribe. For all news on solar, check our website https://taiyangnews.info/

FUNDINGS

Primergy Secures Microsoft As Offtaker For Texas Ash Creek Solar Project And Raises $588 Million In Debt Financing: US-based utility-scale solar and storage projects developer Primergy Solar has secured a long-term offtake agreement for the entire output of its upcoming 408 MW AC project in Texas with Microsoft. The project will be accompanied by 300 MW battery storage capacity.?The tech giant sees the Ash Creek Solar Project in Hill County as contributing to its sustainability commitments and becoming carbon-negative by 2030. It follows the company signing up for the 127 MW DC/98.1 MW AC Bayou Galion Solar Plant of Recurrent Energy in Louisiana earlier this year (see Recurrent Energy Announces CPPA & Project Finance Raise ).?Primergy also announced securing $588 million debt financing commitments for the facility, including a construction loan, tax credit transfer bridge loan and related letters of credit.?For complete story, click here .

UK’s NextEnergy Capital Expands Fund By $100 Million: The UK-headquartered global renewables manager NextEnergy Capital has secured capital commitment of $100 million from an unidentified European pension fund for its NextPower V ESG (NPV ESG), a solar and battery storage strategy fund. The focus of this fund is to invest in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations.?The European pension fund joins the existing funders, namely German occupational pension fund KLP and a large Nordic pension fund that also remains unidentified. NextEnergy says the NPV ESG targets to raise $1.5 billion with a $2 billion hard cap. It has so far secured $580 million in total commitments. The proceeds are planned to be invested in the solar + infrastructure sector in carefully selected OECD markets. The aim is to build significant portfolios in each target market till the end of its holding period in 2033. ? For complete story, click here .

€89 million for Spanish projects: Spanish renewable energy developer X-Elio has achieved an €89 million financing deal with Societe Generale to develop and construct several solar projects in Spain. The 3 key projects to benefit from this deal have a combined 123 MW capacity. This comprises an operational plant in Almeria. The 2 remaining power plants are both under construction and located in Murcia and Granada regions.?

Refinancing for Spanish parks: German renewable energy producer Encavis AG has signed project financing agreements for €203 million for its 300 MW Talayuela and 200 MW La Cabrera Solar Plants in Spain. Both these operational projects were commissioned without state subsidies. The refinancing has been achieved with 4 international banks, namely Netherlands’s ABN AMRO and Co?peratieve Rabobank, Spain’s Bankinter and German-UK entity NatWest Bank Europe GmbH. Encavis CFO and Spokesman of the Management Board Christoph Husmann said, “This non-recourse refinancing facility is further evidence to the market that we are actively managing our existing financing exposure to optimize financing costs and to benefit from enhanced debt sizing terms as well as streamlined financing structures for the ongoing operational management.”??

€50 million for 1.8 GW PV vehicle: Spanish investment bank Banca March and renewable energy asset manager Alantra Solar have launched a co-investment platform called March SolEnergy FCRE SA to develop a 1.8 GW solar portfolio. Alantra Solar is an investment vehicle formed by Alantra and Solarig. Most of this 1.8 GW capacity, that represents 40 solar projects, will be hybridized with battery storage in Italy and Spain. The bank has committed €50 million to the platform along with its clients. They will participate in the platform through a European Venture Capital Fund (VCF) in the form of a public limited company, parallel to the vehicle structured by Alantra, and will join strategic investors Reichmuth Infrastructure and Amundi Energy Transition.?

CONTRACTS & PPAs

Chile’s Largest Copper Producer Codelco Contracts Renewable Energy: Chile’s state-owned Codelco, one of the world’s largest copper producers, has completed its competitive solicitation drive to select 3 companies for a 15-year 1,825 GWh/year renewable energy supply starting from January 1, 2026. Out of more than 50 national and international bidders, it selected 3 companies. Atlas Renewable Energy has been signed on to supply 375 GWh/year 24×7 from a new solar and integrated battery energy storage system (BESS) in Chile. This is Atlas’ 1st project with battery storage.?Chilean utility Colbún has won the contract for 1.1 TWh/year to support Codelco’s mining operations in Chile. Canada-headquartered Innergex Renewable Energy has also been selected by Codelco for a 350 GWh/year supply under the auction. The Chilean copper miner had launched the tender to procure 2.5 TWh/year of renewable energy to power its operations in the country’s central and northern zones. The supply is sought from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2040 (see Chilean Copper Miner Seeking Renewable Energy Supply ).?

600 MW solar contracts: Indian hydropower utility SJVN Limited has announced a long-term power usage agreement (PUA) for 500 MW of solar power from its 1 GW Bikaner Solar Power Project for a tariff of INR 2.57 ($0.031)/kWh. Touted as the country’s largest single-location project, it is being developed by the company’s subsidiary SJVN Green Energy Limited (SGEL) in Rajasthan under the Central Public Sector Units/Undertaking (CPSU) Scheme Phase II, Tranche 3. It is scheduled to be commissioned by September 30, 2024. SGEL says it has now tied up the full project capacity of the 1 GW plant with 200 MW to be supplied to the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) and 300 MW to Jammu and Kashmir Power Corporation Limited (JKPCL) (see India Solar PV News Snippets ).?SGEL has also signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 100 MW solar power at a tariff of INR 2.62 ($0.032)/kWh, also sited in Rajasthan. For complete story, click here .

Jakson PPA with SECI: Jakson Green has announced its 1st PPA with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for a utility-scale solar power plant of unidentified capacity. It won the project under SECI’s tranche XI auction for grid-connected solar power projects with inter-state transmission system (ISTS) connectivity. Power generated will be supplied to SECI once the project is online within 18 months of signing the PPA. SECI will sell this power to different discoms in India.

Over 500 MW solar contracts for Rays: Indian solar EPC Rays Power Infra has secured contracts for 3 solar power projects with a combined 520 MW capacity. Of these, 2 projects have been awarded from a renowned CPSU and another from a global renewable energy developer, both of which were not identified. It says these projects mark its entry into the local markets of Gujarat and Assam. Rays is also eyeing opportunities in Mauritius, Liberia, Bangladesh and Sierra Leone as it targets international expansion.??

JOINT VENTURES

CIL’s JV with RRUVNL: State-owned coal miner Coal India Limited (CIL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RVUNL) to form a joint venture (JV). It will explore the possibility to set up 4.1 GW capacity across 5 projects. These are solar projects at solar parks, solar projects at existing thermal power plants (TPP), wind projects, pumped storage, and pit-head thermal power. They may expand the collaboration to other additional opportunities in the future. For now, CIL will undertake pre-feasibility studies to establish viability of the projects. In a stock exchange filing , CIL said this partnership aims to explore various opportunities to secure power to meet the growing energy demand of Rajasthan.?

NLC India’s RE MoUs: NLC India has signed an MoU with the Government of Rajasthan to form a joint venture (JV) for a 1 GW solar power plant and 125 MW lignite-based power project. Worth over INR 70 billion ($846 million), the MoU has been signed with RUVNL. Additionally, NLC India’s green energy arm NLC India Green Energy Limited (NIGEL) has won a 600 MW solar power plant in the GSECL Khavda Solar Park of the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL). The duo has also signed a PPA for the solar plant at a tariff of INR 2.705 ($0.033)/kWh.?

IPO

GP Eco IPO: Integrated solar energy solutions provider GP Eco Solutions India Limited has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with NSE Emerge. It aims to issue 32.76 lakh (3.276 million) equity shares through this initial public offering (IPO), each with a face value of INR 10. The Noida-headquartered company is a distributor of solar inverters and panels, and also an EPC and O&M service provider to commercial and residential consumers. GP Eco sells hybrid solar inverters under its own brand called Invergy, and lithium ferro phosphate batteries. It also calls itself the authorized distributor of Sungrow India, Saatvik Green Energy and LONGi Solar Technology for solar panels in North India. The company aims to use INR 124.5 million ($1.5 million) to meet the working capital requirements, and invest INR 76 million ($0.92 million) in its subsidiary Invergy India Private Limited (IIPL) to procure plant, machinery and set up a new fab. Remaining funds will be put to use for general corporate purposes. It aims to assemble solar inverters in its proposed assembling fab being set up at Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. It is scheduled to complete trial runs and commence commercial production in Q3/FY 2024-25.?

PARTNERSHIPS

Solar finance partnership: Tata Power Solar Systems Limited (TPSSL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), has renewed and expanded its partnership with the state-owned Union Bank of India (UBI) to offer financing solutions for solar power. It will be open to residential solar customers in-line with the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (see India Eyeing 30 GW Rooftop Solar Capacity With New Scheme ). Financing will also be available for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. Under this financing partnership, loans will be available for a maximum limit of INR 1.5 million for residential and INR 1.6 million for C&I customers. It will provide financing up to 80% and 85% for the respective categories. Customers in both the categories will have access to collateral-free financing options with the total loan tenure being up to 10 years. TPSSL and UBI have renewed their agreement for 3 years. In the previous collaboration, the focus was only on the C&I segment that led to a financing of INR 1.65 billion ($20 million).?