A total of five banks participated in this financing: Societe Generale (as documentation, technical and modeling bank and hedging coordinator), Unicredit Mediocredito Centrale (as documentation bank), BNP Paribas (as insurance bank), Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and Dexia Crediop (as agent).
SACE is taking this opportunity to step up its involvement in financing solar PV projects, participating via providing a guarantee for a portion of Societe Generale’s commitment. The facilities cover approximately 85% of estimated project costs at completion and the final maturity date is 18 years post construction, AES said.
Massimiliano Battisti, managing director of Societe Generale, said: “While the Italian regulatory environment makes solar PV an attractive investment, its dynamics make innovative financing solutions necessary. This poses a significant barrier to entry for less sophisticated investors.
“In this environment we believe that it is very important to have partners like AES Solar who are among the most experienced sponsors in this sector, as they have both the industry and the financial expertise as well as the ability to understand the subtleties of the local market to enable them to successfully deliver the project.”
Construction on the project is underway and the project is expected to reach commercial operation by the end of 2010, qualifying it for a 20-year regulated feed-in tariff under the ‘Conto Energia’ scheme. CSM will use First Solar thin film panels.
