By Greg Roumeliotis
LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - A consortium of the NIBC European Infrastructure Fund I and Triodos Bank have agreed to buy a portfolio of solar plants in Spain from construction firm Aldesa, a source close to the deal said on Wednesday.
The Dutch investors are to acquire nine photovoltaic plants with total capacity of 46 megawatts that benefit from a generous feed-in tariff not available to new projects, the source said.
'This deal offers entry to the Spanish solar market without taking on major completion risk,' said the source, who did not wish to be named because the transaction is not yet public.
NIBC and Aldesa did not respond to a request for comment while a Triodos Bank official had no immediate comment on the deal.
The move will give the two infrastructure investors access to a sector that has seen fierce competition for projects that have successfully registered for Spain's generous feed-in tariff.
After lucrative subsidies for solar panels created a bubble in Spain's photovoltaic industry, the government sought to monitor and control other renewable energy projects' access to special state-subsidised tariffs.
The 347 million euro NIBC infrastructure fund has been recently investing more in renewables. The fund announced earlier this week it acquired an 82 megawatt wind farm portfolio in Germany.
(Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Madrid; editing by John Stonestreet) Keywords: ALDESA/SALE (greg.roumeliotis@thomsonreuters.com; +31 20 504 5005; Reuters Messaging: greg.roumeliotis.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - A consortium of the NIBC European Infrastructure Fund I and Triodos Bank have agreed to buy a portfolio of solar plants in Spain from construction firm Aldesa, a source close to the deal said on Wednesday.
The Dutch investors are to acquire nine photovoltaic plants with total capacity of 46 megawatts that benefit from a generous feed-in tariff not available to new projects, the source said.
'This deal offers entry to the Spanish solar market without taking on major completion risk,' said the source, who did not wish to be named because the transaction is not yet public.
NIBC and Aldesa did not respond to a request for comment while a Triodos Bank official had no immediate comment on the deal.
The move will give the two infrastructure investors access to a sector that has seen fierce competition for projects that have successfully registered for Spain's generous feed-in tariff.
After lucrative subsidies for solar panels created a bubble in Spain's photovoltaic industry, the government sought to monitor and control other renewable energy projects' access to special state-subsidised tariffs.
The 347 million euro NIBC infrastructure fund has been recently investing more in renewables. The fund announced earlier this week it acquired an 82 megawatt wind farm portfolio in Germany.
(Additional reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Madrid; editing by John Stonestreet) Keywords: ALDESA/SALE (greg.roumeliotis@thomsonreuters.com; +31 20 504 5005; Reuters Messaging: greg.roumeliotis.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
© 2009 AFX News
