The acquisitions of La Huella and Montalto di Castro are the first investments of a large project pipeline for CCE Holding in Chile and Italy
Berenberg Green Energy Junior Debt Funds are financing solar parks in Italy and Chile. (Credit: TheOtherKev from Pixabay.)
The private bank Berenberg and the international photovoltaic expert CCE Holding start their cooperation with two successful transactions at once. Those are related to the acquisition and construction of the Italian solar park “Montalto di Castro”, as well as the acquisition of the operational Chilean solar park “La Huella”. Both transactions will be financed by the Berenberg Green Energy Junior Debt Funds II and III together with CCE Holding and its investor Ärzteversorgung Thüringen. Berenberg acts as investment advisor to the fund.
The operational La Huella solar park is located in the Atacama Desert in Chile and has a capacity of 87 MWp. The solar radiation near the equator is one of the highest on the entire globe. The photovoltaic power plant was developed and constructed by the shareholders of CCE Holding. The construction phase of the showcase project was fully financed by Ärzteversorgung Thüringen, which is also a shareholder of CCE Holding. Montalto di Castro, the construction-ready 41 MWp solar park, is located in the Lazio region of Italy. Construction of the project, which is divided into two sub-parks, is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2022 and the project will be completed by mid-2023. Both solar parks provide a natural hedge for the portfolio due to the opposing summer and winter periods.
The acquisitions of La Huella and Montalto di Castro are the first investments of a large project pipeline for CCE Holding in Chile and Italy. Martin Dürnberger and Jörg Menyesch, Managing Directors of CCE Holding stated: “We are extremely pleased to have found Berenberg as a long-term and competent financing partner that fits very well with our overall international growth strategy in South America and Europe.”
Torsten Heidemann, Head of Infrastructure & Energy of Berenberg said, “We are pleased to start our trustful business relationship with CCE in parallel with two projects and to enter the Chilean market together. For the debt funds we have launched, La Huella is the first project in South America and the Chilean market is particularly interesting for us and our investors due to its attractive PPA structures. In Italy, the market for photovoltaic projects such as Montalto di Castro is developing very well after the expiry of the feed-in tariff and represents an attractive target market for us. Last year, we financed six projects in Italy alone.”
Source: Company Press Release