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October 2, 2009
Rome,
Italy: SunRay Renewable Energy Secures €120m in Project Financing
SunRay
has secured project financing for the construction of a 24MW plant
at Montalto di Castro, located approximately 100km north of Rome
in the province of Viterbo (region of Lazio). This is Italy’s
largest photovoltaic power plant to date and SunRay intends to
expand the site to 100MW by the end of 2010.
Construction
began on this project back in February and the first phase of
24MW will be connected to the grid by the end of 2009.
The
project financing was signed on 17th September and financial close
occurred on 24th September 2009 for an amount of €120m,
one of the largest PV project finance deals closed in Europe this
year.
The
borrower is Cassiopea PV S.r.l., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Sun Ray Italy Holding S.r.l.
The
lending banks are Banca Infrastrutture Innovazione e Sviluppo
(MLA and Insurance Bank), Societe Generale (MLA, Coordination
and Documentation Bank) and WestLB AG (MLA, Technical and Modelling
Bank). MLA stands for Mandated Lead Arranger. The banks also provided
Cassiopea with the hedging coverage against interest rates fluctuations.
The project also involved the leading Italian credit insurer SACE
as MLA, joint documentation and partial guarantor of the Societe
Generale tranche.
The
project structure includes the co-sharing of the substation (owner's
side) with other project companies within the Sunray group. This
structure, including agreements reached with the high voltage
grid operator Terna in relation to the substation's operation,
is the first of its kind realized in Italy in the solar sector.
Successful
permitting, partial construction and project financing of the
Montalto project validates SunRayfs community-based development
model. SunRay Italy worked closely with all relevant authorities
at the commune, province and regional level to ensure that the
project design was in line with the communityfs needs. SunRay
selected a number of skilled local contractors to help build this
plant and over 200 local workers are currently employed on the
construction site.
“Since
the beginning of our government we have set environmental policies,
development and implementation of renewable energy projects as
a top priority of our agenda” affirmed the President of Region
Lazio, Mr. Piero Marrazzo.
“Therefore
we have invested about 263 million euro, a quarter of the overall
regional funds for environment, on renewable sources and photovoltaic
in particular, passing from 1 MW produced in 2005 to 38 MW currently
available and expected to increase to 100 MW within 2009”, explained
President Marrazzo. “The Montalto di Castro PV power plant represents
a true outstanding achievement and is to be regarded as a tangible
proof of our efforts in making Lazio a ‘green’ Region.”
“We
are enormously pleased that the first phase of this big PV plant
in Montalto will be connected soon” explained the Mayor of Montalto
di Castro, Salvatore Carai. “This plant will significantly contribute
to the reduction of pollutant emissions, thereby improving environmental
quality at both local and national level. We have created hundreds
of jobs which have brought significant social, cultural and tourism
benefits to the entire community.”
“In
addition to delivering commercial benefits to the community, Montalto
di Castro is designed to integrate seamlessly into the surrounding
countryside and to preserve the local ecosystem,” said Giora Salita,
Head of Business Development for SunRay Group. “We have chosen
suppliers with unrivalled global experience in PV plant construction
and technology so that the finished project will become the pride
of the local community today and for many generations in the future."
Further
details about: SunRay
Renewable Energy
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