Renewable Power Capital and Benbros will co-develop and acquire a pipeline of 14 projects located across 8 different provinces in Spain
Renewable Power Capital is a pan-European renewable energy investment platform. (Credit: PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay.)
Renewable Power Capital (“RPC”), the renewable energy investment platform backed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPP Investments”), today announces it has entered into a 50:50 joint venture (“JV”) with Benbros Solar S.L. (“Benbros”), an experienced Spanish photovoltaic developer, to develop 14 solar energy projects across Spain. Through the partnership, RPC and Benbros will work together on a portfolio of 3.4GW across the projects located within the regions of Andalucía, Extremadura, Castilla la Mancha, Aragon and Murcia.
This JV marks RPC’s first entry into Spanish renewable energy market, a key target for investment alongside the Nordics – where RPC acquired a portfolio of onshore wind projects earlier this year – due to the attractiveness of its renewable energy market in general and solar PV in particular. Spain is a European leader in the renewable energy transition and is expected to achieve a renewable energy capacity of 50GW by 2025. Due to the country’s strong solar resource, it boasts the lowest solar levelized cost of energy (“LCOE”) in Europe.
The JV will deploy a compelling co-development strategy that accelerates RPC’s entry into the Spanish solar market and allows RPC to partner with a well-regarded developer with an outstanding track record and deep knowledge of the local solar market.
Benbros is led by Rafael Benjumea who founded and led FRV, a platform for global solar projects which started in Spain in 2005 and has gone on to become one of the leading solar companies worldwide with projects across 6 continents. Bob Psaradellis, CEO of RPC, was a member of FRV’s Board of Directors following an investment in FRV in 2008. Rafael is also the President of the Spanish Solar PV Association (UNEF) and Co-Founder and Chairman of POWEN, a leading residential solar company operating in Spain and Mexico.
Bob Psaradellis, CEO, Renewable Power Capital, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Benbros on this exciting new development. Having been on the Board of Directors for FRV, a Spanish-based solar platform co-founded by the principals of Benbros, I have long-known the world-class development expertise of the team. Supported by the market-leading investment capabilities and flexible capital of RPC, I am confident this JV will help further accelerate the renewables transition taking place in Spain.”
Rafael Benjumea, CEO of Benbros, added: “This partnership with RPC presents us with a fantastic opportunity for growth. We have been leaders in Spanish-based solar for some time and the region in which we operate is a well-known market for subsidy-free financing. Our expertise and RPC’s flexible mandate position us as the partner of choice for developers in the region.”
Shaun Kingsbury CBE, Chairman, Renewable Power Capital, commented: “This marks our first investment in Spain, and we are pleased to have achieved yet another key objective that we were targeting, particularly so quickly after launching. Spain has strong solar resources and with this development portfolio, which is of significant size, we are confident that we will deliver the scale and diversity we seek for our platform.”
Source: Company Press Release