BayWa r.e. has reached financial close for the 174MW Don Rodrigo photovoltaic solar park, located in the municipalities of Utrera and Alcala de Guadaira, near Seville, in Spain.
Cover an area of around 265 hectares, the Don Rodrigo solar park will use Astronergy and GCL solar panels and Huawei inverters.
The company has closed €100m Construction Bridge Financing for the project with NORD/LB Norddeutsche Landesbank.
BayWa r.e. Solar Projects managing director Benedikt Ortmann said: “Having NORD/LB as one of our core Project Finance banks by our side also on financing this landmark project lets us even more confidently tackle the challenge of shaping the subsidy-free future of the European renewable energy transition.”
BayWa r.e. said that the Don Rodrigo project is one of the first solar projects of this size in Europe to be realized without any subsidies.
For the sale of power generated by the solar farm, BayWa r.e. has signed a 15-year PPA with Norwegian Energy Group Statkraft.
The solar park, which is expected to be commissioned at the end of 2018, is expected to generate around 300GWh of solar power on a yearly basis. The solar plant’s power generation is equivalent to the annual consumption of nearly 93,000 average Spanish households.
NORD/LB Origination head Heiko Ludwig said: “We are thrilled to provide our core client BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH with this Construction Bridge Financing to build this milestone project and further strengthen our existing relationship by supporting their activities in the increasingly prominent Spanish Renewable Sector.”
BayWa r.e. acquires, develops, constructs and operates renewable energy projects. With over 1,400 employees working in BayWa r.e. globally, the group has developed and constructed over 2GW capacity of projects and actively provides asset management for over 5GW.