Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has increased its investment in renewable energy by a further £175m (€203m).
The insurer of defined benefit pension funds has provided the senior secured debt funding, as sole investor, for a further 18 Spanish solar parks owned by Q-Energy to help refinance existing debt.
PIC said the solar parks benefit from the Spanish regulatory framework which structures payments from the Spanish electricity system and guarantees an agreed level of return and therefore predictable cashflows to back PIC’s pension liabilities.
PIC, which has invested £777m in solar energy to date, made its first renewable energy investment in 2012 and has made a total investment of over £1.5bn in the sector.
Florence Carasse, senior debt origination manager at PIC, said: “PIC is a committed investor in renewable energy with total investments of more than £1.5bn in the sector, as a socially beneficial outcome of our purpose.
“Q-Energy has once again shown great knowledge and expertise in structuring deals that allow long-term investors such as PIC to invest in clean energy. By funding infrastructure projects dedicated to tackling climate change, PIC’s investments help to secure pension payments to our 273,000 policyholders and benefit society as a whole.”
Daniel Parejo, Q-Energy partner and CIO, said: “We are pleased to have completed this latest round of debt funding with PIC in Spanish photovoltaic plants, which is evidence of the strong working relationship we have built with PIC’s innovative and flexible team.”
Parejo said Q-Energy has placed over €2bn among tier 1 institutional investors, such as PIC, in recent years.
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