Solaria Energia y Medio Ambiente S A : EIB signs agreement with Solaria to co-finance construction of seven photovoltaic plants that will generate 477 GWh of renewable e...

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement with Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente, S.A. ("Solaria") to participate in the financing of seven photovoltaic plants located in Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura. The new facilities have a total capacity of 261.05 MWp and will generate, together, approximately 477 GWh of energy per year, a volume equivalent to the consumption of 121,300 Spanish households.

These plants are owned by Solaria, which is also the developer, constructor and operator of the plants. Solaria is a Spanish company specialized in the development, construction and operation of photovoltaic solar energy generation plants and currently has more than 800 MWp installed and in operation in Spain, Europe and South America.

To support the construction and commissioning of the plants, the EU Bank will provide Solaria with a total of up to EUR 54 million through a Project Finance structure. The EIB financing is divided into two tranches: a senior project finance tranche of up to EUR 51.7 million, and an EIB debt service reserve facility of up to EUR 2.3 million. The EIB provides further private financing to the project through a bank-intermediated tranche of up to €14 million which is expected to be formalized at a later stage. The remaining amount of the Project Finance was underwritten by Natixis. Natixis will also act as interest rate swap provider for all senior debt. The EIB's participation has improved the financing terms offered to Solaria.

In addition, the EIB financing will promote security of energy supply, the fight against climate change, job creation and social cohesion. All of the plants are located in cohesion regions, thus promoting the economic recovery of these regions, which were particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The construction of the PV parks will contribute to Spain's 2030 targets for reducing CO2 emissions, as well as contributing to Spain's renewable energy targets set out in the National Energy and Climate Plan (PNEC), which calls for increasing the share of renewable energy sources in gross final energy consumption from 20% in 2020 to 42% in 2030.

EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félixsaid: "As the EU's climate bank, we are pleased to promote the development of renewable energy generation infrastructure with a view to contributing to sustainable economic growth and the creation of quality jobs in Spain. This operation once again underlines the EIB's firm commitment to clean technologies as a key element in achieving Europe's 2050 climate neutrality target."

Solaria's CEO, Enrique Díaz-Tejeiro, said, "Solaria is proud to be working with the EIB again. This new agreement once again demonstrates the EIB's commitment to Solaria and, above all, to the energy transition that we are promoting in order to replace polluting energy sources with renewable alternatives".