L&G NTR Clean Power Fund completes financing for three Spanish solar projects

The L&G NTR Clean Power Europe Fund managed by Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has completed the financing of three Spanish solar projects in partnership with NordLB.

NordLB, the sole debt provider and hedge counterparty, has provided debt facilities of around €50m with a debt tenor of 18 years.

The portfolio consists of two sites in Castilla la Mancha and one in Andalucía, which are under construction with the first already exporting power and scheduled to achieve commercial operations this month. Once fully operational, the sites will have a combined capacity of 115MWp, producing enough clean power to serve 51,424 homes. 

In a separate transaction, the fund has acquired Ferme Eolienne Cruscades and Canet, a six-turbine onshore wind project near Narbonne, France. With a capacity of 13.4MW, the project will provide clean energy for more than 5,500 households and is already under construction. The fund acquired the asset from Samfi Energy, a subsidiary company of Samfi Invest group. 

Anthony Doherty, chief investment officer, NTR, said: “This is a substantial financing which we have successfully closed in a more challenging environment, proving that quality clean-power projects and a strong sponsor can still attract favourable terms.

”We are delighted to continue our strong relationship with NordLB and to have them involved in this project, which is helping to accelerate the energy transition across Europe.

Heiko Ludwig, global head of structured finance at NordLB, said: “The successful closing of Garcia Lorca underlines our ongoing commitment to the build-out of renewable energy in Europe with the Spanish market currently being very active. We are very happy to support our decade-long client NTR with our structuring expertise to find tailor-made solutions for projects to enable an efficient and attractive financing package.

”Globally, we expect a growing demand for project financing of renewable and infrastructure assets for the next years and as such strong relationships between project sponsors and banks will be key.”

Bill Hughes, global head of real assets, LGIM, said: “Following our first close of the fund in the spring, we’re delighted to be able to announce continued positive momentum on capital deployment with these latest additions to the Clean Power Europe Fund portfolio.

”With their combination of strong income characteristics and sustainability credentials, we believe these assets represent a compelling opportunity for institutional investors looking to play their role in delivering the clean power transition.”

Back in April, LGIM and NTR announced that €390m in committed capital and co-investment opportunity had been raised for the Clean Power Europe Fund.

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