NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited diversifies with co-investment in Spain
Spain has lots of sunshine and as such is a very attractive market for solar infrastructure investment
NextEnergy Solar Fund Ltd (LSE:NESF) signed its first co-investment transaction for a 25% stake in a Spanish 50 megawatt (MW) solar project currently under construction.
The specialist solar power renewable energy investment said in a statement the energisation of the project, in Cadiz, is expected to take place in the first half of 2022.
Once energised, the utility-scale project will benefit from a power purchase agreement for the sale of electricity with a high-credit counterparty for around 70% of contracted volumes for an initial five-year period.
NextEnergy made a US$50mln commitment in June to co-invest with Next Power ESG III ESG, a private fund focused on utility-scale solar assets in OECD markets. Today’s investment sees NextEnergy starting to act on that commitment, with the 25% stake in Agenor, which owns the project, costing roughly 10.6mln.
“Co-investment opportunities can offer a unique, return-enhancing portfolio benefit and Agenor marks NESF’s first co-investment with NPIII ESG and its first international investment outside of Italy. This is a very attractive co-investment opportunity for NESF whilst further diversifying the growing NESF portfolio,” said Kevin Lyon, the chair of NextEnergy Solar Fund.
Michael Bonte-Friedheim, the chief executive officer NextEnergy Capital, said Spain is an attractive market for solar infrastructure as it is one of the highest irradiation areas in Europe.
“We continue to pursue a strong pipeline and are expecting to announce further co-investments with NPIII ESG in due course,” Bonte-Friedheim said.
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