finance.solarenergyevents.com

1 - 3 FEBRUARY 2016Grange City Hotel, London

SOLAR MARKETS UPDATE

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In light of recent government announcements, the landscape for European solar is rapidly changing and two key themes are emerging:

• The industry needs to make solar work post subsidy with new financing structures and new business models• The secondary market is as exciting as it has ever been

This is why, at our 6th Solar Finance & Investment Europe, due to take place on 1-3 February at the Grange City Hotel in London we are bringing together:

• Major European asset holders looking to enlarge their portfolios• Banks ready to refinance projects• Developers with projects to sell• Institutional investors looking how to balance their liabilities and assets with long-term investments

To help you navigate how to take advantage of the opportunities within:• European Secondary markets: YieldCos and listed funds, project supply, M&A• Refinancing: how to do it best• Asset management and best practice O&M• Post-subsidy market• Tendering and development in Europe

Our 40+ speakers that together represents over 4GW of solar:

FOREWORD

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS• Sir David King, Special Representative for Climate Change• Anthony Hobley, CEO, Carbon Tracker

PORTFOLIO OWNERS• Nick Boyle, CEO, Lightsource Renewable Energy• Armin Sandhovel, CIO Infrastructure Equity, Allianz• Thierry Lepercq, CEO, SolaireDirect• Thomas Laumont, Head of PV Investment, KGAL• Giovanni Terranova, Founding Partner, Bluefield• James Prusko, Head of Structured Products, Magnetar

Capital• Daniel Kirk, Partner, Magnetar Solar• Thomas Rottner, CEO, Platina Partners• Dr. Steve Mahon, CEO, Armstrong Energy• Oliver Hughes, Partner, Oxford Capital• Jean-Philippe Olivier, Director, 123Ventures• Michael Bonte-Friedheim, CEO, NextEnergy Capital• Raphael Lance, Managing Director, Mirova• Peter Rossbach, Managing Director, Impax Asset

Management• Angus MacDonald, CEO, British Solar Renewables• Tobias Reichmuth, CEO, SUSI Capital Partners AG• Jonathan Selwyn, CEO, Lark Energy• Christoph Husmann, CFO, Capital Stage• David Maguire, CEO, BNRG• Christopher Mansfield, Head of Renewable Energy, DIF

Infrastructure Fund

• Pablo Valencia, Investment Director, Qualitas Equity Partners• Giles Clark, CEO, Primrose Solar• Roberto Castiglioni, Investment Director, Ingenious• John Mullins, CEO, Amerenco• Ben Guest, CEO, Hazel Capital• Geoff Hoffheinz, Operations Director, Glenmont Partners • Javier Huergo, Chief Investment Officer, Fotowatio• Paul Camp, Business Development and Finance, Belectric• Emma Tinker, Director, HG Capital

BANKS• Alejandro Ciruelos, UK Head- Project & Acquisition Finance,

Santander• Sue Milton, Senior Director, Energy, Structured Finance, RBS• Daniel Egli, Head of Infrastructure, HSH Nordbank• Olivier Fricot, ‎European Head of Power & Renewables

Lending, Investec• Philip Bazin, Head of Environment, Triodos Bank

OTHER SOLAR EXPERTS• Martin Schoenberg, Head of EU Policy, IIGCC• Fintan Whelan, Renewable Energy Expert, Former CFO,

Mainstream Renewables• Simon Turner, Cofounder, OST Energy• Finlay Colville, Head of Market Intelligence, Solar Media• Pierre Emmanuel Frot, UK Sales Manager, Schneider

Electric• William Silverstone, CEO, Silverstone Green Energy

In preparation for the event we put together this market update listing all the major transactions in the past 6 months. Hope you find it useful.

See you in February

Best Regards,Corinna AlgrantiConference Producercalgranti@solarmedia.co.uk

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CONTENTS

Refinancing

Lightsource raises £284 million with another refinancing deal 4

Tenergie refinances 54MW of solar assets for €150 million 4

Lightsource sells more projects to Octopus as part of 522MW refinancing 5

Capital Stage eyes new investments after refinancing two solar parks 5

Secondary market transactions

NextEnergy adds trio of solar farms as investment value exceeds £300 million 6

John Laing Environmental Assets Group splashes £18.8 million on new portfolio 6

NextEnergy Solar Fund bolsters coffers with £38.8 million share issue 7

Bluefield Solar Income Fund eyeing 258MW pipeline with new share issue 7

Consolidation inevitable for UK solar, concludes SEUK keynote panel 8

Lightsource adds 5MW Manor Farm solar array to portfolio 8

Trading starts on Good Energy-backed energy market service Piclo 9

NextEnergy Solar Fund breaks into rooftop market with latest round of PV buys 9

Baywa r.e. sells Pingewood array as work starts on 45MW Vine Farm site 10

Foresight Solar seals 34MW Big60Million deal 10

Bluefield targets €200 million for European solar fund 11

Big 60 Million gains Climate Bond Initiative certification 11

France’s Solairedirect to be acquired by ENGIE 12

Bluefield buoyant over UK solar ‘opportunity’ as NAV nearly doubles to £288 million 12

Bluefield Solar diversifies into FiT projects with £6 million deal 13

Aquila Capital adds second UK farm to solar portfolio 13

Martifer Solar expands Italian O&M portfolio with 11.5MW deal 14

Bluefield Solar adds to UK portfolio after confirming third interim dividend 14

Bluefield European Solar to list on London Stock Exchange 15

Foresight adds to portfolio with 34.7MW Wiltshire farm 15

Bonds

Big 60 Million gains Climate Bond Initiative certification 16

Fundraising

UK solar developer Lightsource raises US$438 million 17

Neoen seeks funding from European Investment Bank for PV portfolio 17

Ingeteam gains €55 million loan from European Investment Bank 17

Market state

UK installed capacity to exceed 9GW this week 18

Quercus unveils new renewable energy infrastructure funds 18

UK’s Lightsource readies ‘significant’ investment for Ireland push 19

Wircon starts work on Scandinavia’s largest solar plant 19

Foresight says UK ‘remains an attractive market’, pursues 300MW pipeline 20

Asset Management

Meteocontrol partners with 3megawatt to integrate large-scale PV monitoring services 21

Enel Green Power forms JV firm to consolidate Italian PV power plants 21

Europe’s largest solar park connected to the grid 21

More PV on the European grid presents possibilities not problems - EUPVTP 22

Policy

Federal Network Agency: 136 bids listed in second German PV tender 23

France doubles solar tender size as prices catch up with wind 23

France doubles mid-sized solar tender to 240MW 23

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REFINANCING

Lightsource raises £284 million with another refinancing deal

The UK’s largest solar developer Light-source Renewables has refinanced yet more of its solar assets, this time raising

£284 million.Lightsource worked with financial advi-

sor Royal Bank of Scotland to refinance a 101MW portfolio of 33 operational ground-mounted solar assets, each accredited under the feed-in tariff.

A statement issued by Lightsource this morning said the move represented its first into the long-dated institutional market. M&G Investments provided the majority of the funding – £247 million of 22-year inflation linked financing – while AMP Capital provided a £37 million, eight-year mezzanine facility.

Mezzanine financing allows the lender to convert a loan into ownership or equity inter-est in the debtor if the loan is not paid back in time and in full.

Paul McCartie, structured finance direc-tor at Lightsource, said the deal was a “significant milestone” for Lightsource. “We have raised over £1.1 billion of pro-ject financing this year which is an amazing achievement and wouldn’t have been pos-sible without the support of the lenders and advisors who work with us,” McCartie added.

Last month Lightsource shifted a new batch of its projects to investment partner Octopus Investments as part of a wider £400 million refinancing totalling 522MW, spread across 74 separate projects.

Lightsource has been prolific in its develop-ment of utility-scale solar farms and its recent refinancing initiatives come as it has amassed a significant pipeline of potential assets at a crucial period for the UK market.

With the RO set to close next year, devel-opers are currently facing a further rush to

have projects complete before the window shuts on 31 March 2016.

John Mayhew, head of in f rastruc-ture finance at M&G Investments, said that the injection of finance would be used by Lightsource to develop further sites across the UK.

04 November 2015

The financing will help Lightsource pursue its solar pipeline.

Tenergie refinances 54MW of solar assets for €150 million

France-based renewable energy company Tenergie has successfully refinanced its 54.4MW of solar assets

for €150 million (US$166 million) with a bank syndicate led by Credit Agricole Group.

The transaction was initiated in May, including the fol lowing actors: Credit

Agricole Group, Unifergie, LCL, Credit Agricole Alpes-Provence, Shore Investment, BPIFrance Financing and the Postal bank.

Nicolas Jeuffrain, president of Tenergie, said: “This operation has allowed us to benefit from the current favourable market conditions. We have also been able to align

our investment vehicles and standardise our solar projects.

“This ref inancing shows our ambi-tion to be part of the leading independent producers in France. We continue our con-solidation strategy, particularly through acquisitions.”

Oct 23, 2015

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REFINANCING

Capital Stage eyes new investments after refinancing two solar parks

Hamburg-based renewable energy firm Capital Stage is seeking new invest-ments after refinancing two 5MWp

projects in the UK.The company has completed the refi-

nancing of an unnamed 5MWp in south east England acquired from developers F&S Solar Concept in April this year and a separate, also unnamed project with the same genera-tion capacity purchased last month.

Refinancing agreements have been sealed with financiers Bayerische Landesbank, and Capital Stage has said the equity released is now available for the firm to reinvest in fur-

ther projects.The deals have been structured as non-

recourse project-f inance loans with a maturity of 18 years. While no monetary value has been disclosed for the second project, Capital Stage did confirm it had raised £4 million from the project acquired in April.

Capital Stage has worked extensively with both F&S Solar Concept and Bayerische Landesbank in the past and the company currently maintains a first option on an addi-tional 5MWp solar farm developed by F&S.

Last October Bayerische Landesbank refi-nanced seven solar farms located in Italy for Capital Stage, raising €24 million.

04 August 2015

Capital Stage is looking to reinvest the refinancing pro-ceeds into new assets.

Lightsource sells more projects to Octopus as part of 522MW refinancing

The UK’s largest renewable energy de-veloper, Lightsource Renewable Energy, has passed a new batch of projects to

its investment partner, Octopus Investments.Octopus announced that it had completed

a £400 million refinancing of projects “owned by funds managed by Octopus Investments”. A spokesperson for Octopus confirmed that some of the 522MW covered by the deal were projects that had only recently moved from Lightsource’s ownership to that of Octopus. Some of the 74 operational pro-jects covered by the refinancing had been on Octopus’ books for longer.

It was not clear at the time of writing how much capacity fell into that category. Lightsource declined to comment on the deal.

Lightsource has been the most prolific solar

developer in the UK and has worked hand in hand with Octopus throughout this period.

Policy changes in the UK have forced the company to adjust its priorities. It switched focus to rooftop projects in response to the government’s preference only for that support to be potentially stripped away by proposals still under consultation.

“The relationship between Lightsource and Octopus has never been in doubt and while SPVs may have legally resided with Lightsource, there had been an assumption by many that ultimate ownership would reside finally at Octopus,” said Finlay Colville, head of Solar Intelligence.

“The interesting point here though may be the timing. Potentially this offers cash to Lightsource ahead of what is likely to be a

rapidly moving last few months of RO pro-ject build out and acquisition leading up to 31 March 2016,” added Colville.

21 October 2015

The UK's largest renewable energy developer, Lightsource Renewable Energy, has passed a new batch of projects to its investment partner, Octopus Investments. Source: Lightsource Renewable Energy.

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SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

NextEnergy adds trio of solar farms as investment value exceeds £300 million

Asset management group NextEnergy Solar Farm (NESF) has completed the acquisition of a trio of ground-mount

solar farms, taking its investment value be-yond £300 million.

The portfolio has a total capacity of 18MW and includes the 8MW Ellough Solar 2 pro-ject which is currently under construction. The farm is scheduled to complete before 31 March 2016 and is expected to receive 1.3 ROCs under the grace period for projects that have with significant investment, however NESF will only complete the acquisition once it is accredited.

Two 5MW projects – named Decoy and Hall Farm – make up the portfolio and are expected to be complete before the end of the year. Both projects have been pre-accredited and will move to NESF should they be connected within their respective pre-accreditation windows.

The acquisitions come amidst a flurry of activity for NESF, which has now purchased six solar farms since raising £38.8 million in September, and a wider increase in activity across the entire secondary solar market.

Earlier this week John Laing took on more solar projects and Finlay Colville, head of intelligence at Solar Intelligence, said there is currently no shortage of potential sites in the UK market. He added however that the chal-lenge is now to choose prospective sites and which developers to align themselves with.

“The market is currently a broad mix of established and new developers trying to build and flip on potential completed site assets,” Colville said.

“ W h a t i s m o re i n t e re s t i n g f ro m NextEnergy’s recent portfolio acquisition announcement is getting rights on sites that are potentially sub-sections of larger carved out builds.

“For example, we are now seeing sites going ahead where there are potentially 5MW parts to be incentivised under RO and FiTs, providing investors with a choice. This is fur-ther complicated by the timelines on offer to developers from the hardstop dates associ-ated with RO and pre-accredited FiTs, with some developers potentially choosing FiT routes with a lower risk compared to ROs.

“What is emerging however is a much more

complicated marketplace for investors in the next few months, as the different RO and FiT options unfold during DECC’s post-consulta-tion landscape for the industry,” Colville said.

He concluded that NextEnergy’s recent activity suggested that it was predominantly sticking with established developer and EPC options, which he said was evidence of the need to “have the lowest risk” when choosing which sites to pursue.

04 November 2015

NextEnergy has taken on three more solar assets as it continues its shopping spree.

John Laing Environmental Assets Group splashes £18.8 million on new portfolio

Investment group John Laing Environmental Assets (JLEA) has spent £18.8 million on a new portfolio of solar assets with a total ca-

pacity of 4.2MW.The portfolio comprises nearly 800 resi-

dential rooftop, commercial rooftop and commercial ground-mount installations across England, Wales and Scotland, all of which are eligible for the feed-in tariff.

JLEA also revealed that the portfo-l io inc ludes var ious specia l purpose vehicles owned by Venture Capital Trusts and

Enterprise Investment Schemes, and man-aged by Downing LLP and Beringea LLP.

The acquisition was paid for by utilising the company’s £50 million revolving credit facil-ity and comes three months after it bolstered its UK portfolio with stakes in two utility-scale solar farms.

JLEA’s purchase of a portfolio comprising hundreds of rooftop installs follows the likes of Bluefield and NextEnergy Solar Fund, who have both made the same move in the last few months.

02 November 2015

JLEA's purchase of a portfolio comprising predom-inantly rooftop installations comes months after rival investment funds Bluefield and NextEnergy did the same.

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SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

Bluefield Solar Income Fund eyeing 258MW pipeline with new share issue

Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) is preparing a big play in the UK’s sec-ondary solar market and will chase an

exclusive pipeline of projects with a capacity of 258MW.

The asset management firm has proposed to issue a further 250 million new ordinary shares and/or C shares through an initial placing and subsequent placing programme in order to fund the pursuit of the pipeline which, if completely acquired, would effec-tively double the size of Bluefield’s portfolio.

In a release earlier this week BSIF stated that its investment adviser had secured exclu-sivity agreements on the projects – located throughout England, Scotland and Wales – all of which qualify for subsidy support either through the ROC scheme or through FiTs for those under 5MW in size.

The company stated that acquiring all projects would cost it approximately £270 million, with other proceeds from the issue going towards repaying sums previously drawn down from an acquisition facility which it has used for short-term financing.

And Bluefield’s business could extend beyond its exclusive pipeline. It also disclosed

that it was exploring a “large number of both primary and secondary project opportuni-ties upon which it intends to enter exclusivity agreements, subject to securing availability of sufficient funding”.

The proposed issue is subject to share-holder approval and it has arranged an extraordinary general meet ing on 17 November to discuss. Approval from 75% of votes cast is required for the issue to go ahead.

Finlay Colville, head of market intelligence at Solar Intelligence, said: “The portfolio would appear to be heavily weighted to large-scale 2014 Grace projects, given the project count and total MW size and suggesting that some of the largest grace projects may be heading to Bluefield. But there is still some good news for Bluefield’s competition with just 253MW being ring-fenced.”

“This leaves a significant pipeline of sever-al hundred projects still, for others to add to their portfolios either before or after site builds are done in the next few months,” he added.

Should Bluefield take its portfolio past the 500MW mark it would seemingly place the investment fund on a more even footing with

UK market leader Lightsource, which recent-ly completed the passing on of 522MW of solar projects to its finance partner Octopus as part of a £400 million refinancing arrange-ment.

But as Colville notes, Lightsource is still some distance ahead. “To put the numbers in further context, Lightsource is currently sitting on a potential RO pipeline of projects almost twice this size, aside from any sites that Lightsource or Octopus may add that are being developed by others.”

28 October 2015

Bluefield expects the entire pipeline to cost somewhere in the region of £270 million. Image: Ceinturion via Wikimedia Commons.

NextEnergy Solar Fund bolsters coffers with £38.8 million share issue

UK asset management firm NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF) has raised £38.8 million from a proposed issue of new

ordinary shares announced earlier this month.NESF revealed that it intended to issue

additional shares on 7 September and this morning confirmed it had received commit-ments under an institutional placing for more than 36 million new ordinary shares and appli-cations for a further 1.2 million new ordinary shares.

More than 37.6 million new ordinary shares are to be issued at a price of 103.3p per share, bolstering NESF’s coffers by £38.8 mil-lion as it seeks to exploit the UK’s growing secondary market.

Earlier this year the company set its sights on a pipeline of solar assets with a combined capacity in excess of 200MW, a pipeline which would effectively double its current portfolio of solar farms which has a combined capacity of around 217MW.

24 September 2015

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SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

Consolidation inevitable for UK solar, concludes SEUK keynote panel

A keynote panel comprising the heads of some of the UK’s largest solar develop-ers have concluded that consolidation

in the solar sector is inevitable as cuts to sup-port frameworks take hold.

Lightsource chief executive Nick Boyle told Solar Energy UK 2015 visitors that in the wake of drastic cuts to the feed-in tariff that the industry would stand to shrink.

“This industry will shrink – not necessarily in terms of the boots on the ground installing panels, but in terms of the number of play-ers. Whenever an industry goes through what we’re about to go through, you get rationali-sation and consolidation,” he said.

Angus Macdonald, chief executive at British Solar Renewables, echoed Boyle’s sentiments and added that his own business’ efforts to become more integrated was key to its future. David Maguire, director at BNRG Renewables, also agreed that there would be “a lot of consolidation” owing to the lack of business capable of being done in a stifled

UK market.Macdonald also said that he foresaw “big

changes” to the UK energy sector in the pipe-line, with embedded generation becoming a “much bigger part”.

Belectric UK chief executive Toddington Harper also gave some insight into what he saw as the future of his business, stating that Belectric was now looking into doing “more innovative PPAs and lots of work behind the meter”.

Also up for discussion by the panel was what the future might hold for UK solar. Both Boyle and Macdonald said they were look-ing forward to being able to develop without the need for subsidies, which Macdonald said had created “awful deadlines” that the indus-try “has to get rid of”.

“We’re looking forward to when we are subsidy free. It’s hugely unpalatable when we have to have the government at the decision table,” Boyle added.

But while RegenSW chief executive Merlin

Hyman said the industry had to get better at “bring[ing] the public with us”, Macdonald spoke of his fears of what might happen if solar could prove itself capable of standing on its own two feet and delivering profits.

“It does worry me the government could [make it so] we’re not on a level playing field,” Macdonald said. Maguire also agreed by raising the prospect of the government intro-ducing taxes at higher or more restrictive rates if solar proved to be profitable, stating the same had happened to other industries that the government had tried to quell.

13 October 2015

Image credit: Solar Media

Lightsource adds 5MW Manor Farm solar array to portfolio

The UK’s leading solar developer, Light-source has added a 5MW solar farm to its portfolio after it was connected to the

grid by ET Solar subsidiary ET Solutions.The solar farm, based in Eggington near

Leighton Buzzard, was connected to the grid under the Renewables Obligation scheme which looks set to close a year earlier than originally planned as part of the Conservative Party’s subsidy reset this summer.

Lightsource managing director Kareen Boutonnat said: “Solar remains a viable option for landowners and forms an impor-tant part of the UK’s energy mix. We have an

unrivalled track record in obtaining planning permission and securing connection and we would urge anyone interested in developing a site to get in touch.”

Last year ET Solar and Lightsource com-menced a 50MW solar collaboration which initially saw the PV manufacturer sell a com-pleted 8.4MW solar farm near Bristol to Lightsource, however ET Solar has been active across the UK market.

ET Solar supplied 6MW of panels required for Marks & Spencer’s landmark rooftop solar array on its Castle Donington distribution cen-tre, and in March acted as EPC provider for

a 9.1MW solar farm in Wiltshire developed in partnership with Hilperton PV.

29 September 2015

The 5MW array adds to Lightsource's already leading UK PV portfolio. Image: Lightsource.

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SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

Trading starts on Good Energy-backed energy market service Piclo

Early trading has started on Piclo, the peer-to-peer renewable energy trading market formed by Good Energy and

Open Utility, ahead of a full public launch next month.

The online service, which has been fund-ed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC’s) Energy Entrepreneurs Fund and the UK’s Tech for Good fund the Nominet Trust, claims to be a first for the UK market in allowing consumers and generators to buy and sell renewable energy directly.

Companies or asset holders that sign up for the service are provided with online tools to access the system which receives all price and preference information on a half-hourly basis before matching demand with supply.

More than 15,000MWh of renewable energy generation has already signed up, comprising hydro, solar and wind genera-tion sites throughout England Scotland and Wales. Notable projects include National

Trust-owned projects in Aberdulais and Hafod y Llan, and various community-owned sites have also signed up.

Piclo has also signed up in excess of 7,000MWh of consumption to the service, with off-takers including international devel-opment firm BDP and two consumption sites from Cornwall’s eco-attraction, the Eden Project. Good Energy ensures the market-place is balanced by purchasing surplus power and providing renewable top-ups as and when required.

The service is set to be a crucial ele-ment of Good Energy’s new strategy for the forthcoming years and was mentioned dur-ing the company’s interim results disclosure last week. Juliet Davenport, chief executive at Good Energy, praised the Eden Project for joining the “visionary project”. Eden Project, in addition to being a visitor attraction with artifi-cial biodomes housing a variety of plants and wildlife, is also hosts some offices of BRE’s

National Solar Centre.“It’ll be really interesting to see how Piclo’s

ground breaking technology will transform the energy market. Just like Good Energy, Eden Project is all about being a catalyst for positive change and this is something we passionately support as a pioneering inde-pendent energy supplier,” she said.

01 October 2015

Davenport (pictured) said Piclo could "transform the energy market". Image: Good Energy.

NextEnergy Solar Fund breaks into rooftop market with latest round of PV buys

NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF) has made its maiden acquisition of a solar rooftop portfolio within a tranche of

new purchases announced today.The investment fund revealed that it had

made three separate acquisitions with a com-bined generation capacity of 18.3MW, paying £22.1 million for the projects.

Included is a portfolio of nearly 700 rooftop installations in Leicestershire which were con-nected between November and June 2013 and receive feed-in tariff revenue, costing NESF up to £2.3 million.

NESF confirmed the Thurlestone portfo-lio was its first move into solar rooftops, but

added it expects to “expand in this market segment” as it looks to further “diversify the composition of its revenue sources”.

Also acquired by NESF was a 5MWp ground-mount solar farm in Essex which was connected in June this year and receives feed-in tariff revenue as a standalone instal-lation, and a 11.5MW solar park in Dorset which was connected in March this year and receives 1.4 ROCs.

The new purchases take NESF’s UK solar portfolio to 253MW at a total investment value of £296.1 million.

Just last month NextEnergy raised £38.8 million from a further issue of ordinary shares

which it said at the time would be used to pursue a 200MW pipeline of assets in the country.

21 October 2015

NESF's UK portfolio now stands at 253MW.

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SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

Baywa r.e. sells Pingewood array as work starts on 45MW Vine Farm site

German solar developer Baywa r.e. has sold its 15MW Pingewood solar farm to investment fund SUSI Renew-

able Energy Fund II and started work on the 45MW Vine Farm site.

BayWa r.e. closed the sale last week and Matthias Taft, energy director at BayWa, revealed that the firm is due to sell three more ground-mount solar farms later this year.

“We were able to secure a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the

project, which made the investment even more attractive,” Taft added.

Meanwhile the company also revealed that work has started on the 45MWp Vine Farm project in eastern England which, when complete, will be the largest individual solar project undertaken by BayWa r.e.

Work is expected to complete in March next year and BayWa r.e. is also eyeing up additional projects in the UK, which would take its renewable energy portfolio in the country beyond its current 260MW capacity.

28 September 2015

Baywa closed the sale of the Pingewood farm last week. Image: BayWa.

Foresight Solar seals 34MW Big60Million deal

Solar investment firm Foresight Solar Fund has completed the acquisition of majority stakes in three solar parks with

a combined capacity of 34MW from Belectric UK-owned community investment programme Big60Million.

Foresight confirmed the deal in a statement to the market this morning, stating that it has purchased stakes in the 15MW Atherstone solar farm, a 10MW solar park in Southam, Warwickshire, and the 9MW Paddock Wood solar farm in Kent.

The two companies wil l manage the assets through a joint venture which will own 78% of Atherstone, 70% of Southam and 59% of Paddock Wood. The deal will leave Big60Million’s investors with just one solar farm owned outright in its 3.8MW project in Willersey, as well as approximately 10.15MW worth of capacity in the three projects.

Toddington Harper, CEO of Big60Million said: “This is a great result for our indus-

try in demonstrating that the Governments ambitions set out in the Community Energy Strategy can be achieved by combining both conventional funding methods, together with local investment”.

Foresight confirmed the acquisitions were funded using proceeds from the company’s placing last month, however Foresight has also extended its acquisition from £120 mil-

lion to £150 million following negotiations with RBS and Santander.

Big60Million was created by internation-al developer Belectric’s UK arm last year to develop community-backed solar projects, offering local residents and investors the chance to help invest in the construction of solar farms in exchange for a guaranteed annual rate of return.

The company currently has several other projects under different stages of develop-ment. Pre-construction work is underway at Big60Million’s >40MWp Swindon Solar Farm, as well as several other sub-5MW projects.

Meanwhile Foresight Solar Fund also joined rival asset management firms Bluefield Solar Income Fund and NextEnergy Solar Fund in confirming that it does not expect to suffer any financial impact caused by the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s proposal this week to close the RO for sub-5MW solar farms a year earlier than planned.

24 July 2015

The deal will mean that the WIllersey Solar Farm (pictured) will be Big60Million's only solely-owned oper-ational solar farm. Image: Big60Million.

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SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

Bluefield targets €200 million for European solar fund

Bluefield European Solar Fund (BESF), a new solar investment vehicle to be advised by Bluefield Partners, has

announced its intention to list on the London Stock Exchange and raise €200 million (US$220 million) for PV acquisitions.

The vehicle will target solar assets across Europe – excluding Greece – but will primarily focus on the Italian and Spanish markets, countries in which the company has already established a target portfolio of assets with a total capacity of 49MWp.

The target portfolio of 29 individual solar arrays is to be secured with an expected consideration of €157 mill ion (US$173 mill ion) and BESF expects to raise the investment from its share issue over the course of the coming 12 months.

BESF’s investment strategy is to target operational utility-scale and commercial assets and intends to derive at least 60% of its activity on a net asset value basis

from Italy and Spain after Bluefield said the “fragmented nature” of those markets was “ideally suited” to its asset management experience.

“We expect to be able to use our specialist knowledge to quick ly and eff ic ient ly consolidate a large, high yielding asset base for our shareholders,” said James Armstrong, managing partner at Bluefield Partners.

BESF is to have a four-strong board comprising of non-executive chairman and former deputy chairman of GDF Suez Sir Neville Simms, senior non-executive director Anthony Brooke and non-executive directors Paul Meader and Ian Burns.

S imms sa id the European market represented an opportunity to create “above average, long term returns” as long as it was approached in a “defensive way”. “The deep solar experience of the Investment Adviser’s specialist team and market leading track record combined with the scale of

the opportunity provides the foundation to build a market leading solar focused energy company in the coming years,” he added.

Go ldman Sachs i s ac t ing as the company’s global coordination and sponsor while Numis Securities and UBS Investment Bank are joint bookrunners for the IPO, and BESF has already secured commitments from investment funds BlackRock and Newton Investment Management to contribute 10% of the IPO each.

Bluefield’s Solar Income Fund has become a prominent player in the UK market, owning 29 PV projects with a capacity exceeding 250MW.

Last week Bluefield Partners’ solely UK-facing fund Bluefield Solar Investment Fund was one of several companies to state that it would be hit by chancellor George Osborne’s decision to remove the Climate Change Levy exemption for renewable energy.

Jul 14, 2015

Big 60 Million gains Climate Bond Initiative certification

Community energy company, Big60Mil-lion has had three of its solar bond offers certified under the global Cli-

mate Bond Initiative (CBI) standard.The CBI standard confirms to poten-

tial investors that the funds are being used to deliver climate change solutions. Big60Million’s Atherstone Solar Farm Ltd (15MW), Southam Solar Farm Ltd (10MW) and Paddock Solar Farm (9MW) all secured certification under the CBI standard.

The official validation report stated that the 34MW of solar projects “will achieve resource efficiency consistent with avoiding dangerous climate and will contribute to Low-Carbon Economy and are therefore eligible to be cer-tified under the CBI standard.”

Reacting to the news, Paul Camp, f inance and business development at Big60Million said: “We are delighted that

our three Big60Million projects, Atherstone, Southam and Paddock Wood have been certified under the Climate Bond Initiative global standards programme. Partnering with Foresight Group, one of Europe’s larg-est yieldco’s proves that community investors and professional investment funds can work successfully in partnership with both recog-nising the value in operational solar farms built by Belectric.”

Camp’s views were echoed by Ricardo Pineiro, director of Foresight who explained that the “innovative partnership of institutional and community finance will act as a template for further co-investment opportunities as we seek to increase the community involvement in solar power generation in the UK”.

However, the Conservative government has enacted wide-ranging changes to solar PV’s support mechanisms at all scales which

threaten the viability of community solar schemes. In response to a potential severe reduction in feed-in tariff rates for solar, Phil Powell, director of Gwent Energy CIC told Solar Power Portal that his community model was “now dead”, stating that the “proposed tariffs will barely cover the administration costs alone”.

28 August 2015

Three of Big60Million's solar projects have been award-ed the CBI standard. Image credit: Big60Million

12

SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

France’s Solairedirect to be acquired by ENGIE

French PV developers Solairedirect and ENGIE are to merge after ENGIE acquired a 95% stake in its compatriot

firm.The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum,

follows a failed IPO by Solairedirect in April, in which the company was unable to muster sufficient interest among developers to complete the flotation.

ENGIE, which also develops other forms of low-carbon energy including wind and hydro, said the acquisition bolstered its position in the French PV market, with the combination of Solairedirect’s 224MW of operational capacity and its own 158.5MW making it a leader.

With Solairedirect already active in around 15 emerging PV markets overseas, including Thailand, Chile and South Africa, ENGIE

said it was also eyeing the opportunities for international expansion offered by the merger.

In a statement announcing the deal, Gérard Mestrallet, ENGIE’s chairman and CEO, said: “This is a crucial step forward in the implementation of our solar strategy. ENGIE has been committed to renewable energies for several years now. We already lead the French wind power market, and this deal makes us the country’s number one in solar power too.

“We intend to strengthen these positions around the world. By pooling the expertise of Solairedirect and ENGIE staff, we will be able to speed up our development in renewable energies, in line with our strategy to spearhead Europe’s energy transition and become the benchmark energy supplier on high-growth markets.”

Worldwide, Solairedirect has developed 57 farms with a total capacity of 486MW, and has a pre-construction portfolio of some 4.5GW, 434MW of which it says will be built within the next 18 months.

Thierry Lepercq, CEO at Solairedirect, added: “I’m very pleased with this project to merge with ENGIE, which is a strategic leap forward, placing competitive solar power at the very heart of the plans to become a world leader in the energy sector. The merger will provide Solairedirect with the financial resources and critical size it requires to speed up growth. Our mutually complementary activities across the world, our entrepreneurial spirit and our ongoing drive for innovation will give us a unique opportunity to build together a competitive world leader on the solar market.”

Jul 01, 2015

Bluefield buoyant over UK solar ‘opportunity’ as NAV nearly doubles to £288 million

Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) said there remains a “very substantial and immediate opportunity” for asset hold-

ers in the UK market despite warning of “far reaching implications” caused by the govern-ment’s recent subsidy reset.

The company disclosed its 2014/15 full-year results this morning and revealed its net asset value (NAV) had nearly doubled on last year’s figure to £288 million following a flurry of acquisitions, including the 50MWp West Raynham solar farm developed by MATEL and ACS.

As a result Bluefield’s total comprehensive income for the year climbed more than 60% to £15.1 million, however the firm’s acquisi-tion drive has seen its cost of finance soar from around £32,000 last year to more than £800,000 in 2014/15.

Bluefield’s asset portfolio – comprising

29 separate installations with a combined capacity in excess of 250MWp – performed 4% above expectation throughout the year, which BSIF chairman John Rennocks said contributed to an “excellent operational per-formance”.

However Rennocks also warned of chal-lenges facing the company in 2016, most notably the uncertainty created by the Conservative government’s reset of clean energy support frameworks enacted since May’s general election.

Rennocks said the company had delivered a strong set of results in spite of “consider-able headwinds” and commented that the “demonstrable success” of UK solar had been met with a “significant reaction” from the government.

“We expect this to have far reaching impli-cations for the solar industry from 2016

onwards; nonetheless there remains a very substantial and immediate opportunity to acquire primary assets and a growing base of secondary assets.

“The board is positioning the company to be in position to take advantage of both these market opportunities,” Rennocks said.

Bluefield also gave specific mention to the company’s diversification into feed-in tar-iff accredited projects, announced in August prior to DECC’s proposals to cut the small-scale FiT by up to 87%.

BSIF acquired a number of commercial rooftop assets and explicitly mentions the market as one of potential in the UK, confirm-ing that the company’s investment adviser Bluefield Partners LLP is supporting the gov-ernment’s wish to drive more commercial rooftops and is engaging with DECC on the subject.

01 October 2015

13

SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

Bluefield Solar diversifies into FiT projects with £6 million deal

Aquila Capital adds second UK farm to solar portfolio

Solar asset management firm Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) has diversi-fied into feed-in tariff (FiT) supported

projects with a £6 million acquisition deal and taken on its first commercial rooftop install.

BSIF will take on 28 separate installation receiving FiT payments after entering into sale and purchase agreements for Bluefield EIS Solar, Bluefield Kite and Bluefield Peregrine.

The company said it believed the acqui-sitions would be beneficial to shareholders by giving it greater access to “attractive” FiT revenue which is “fully in line” with Bluefield’s investment objectives. Currently more than 97% of Bluefield’s portfolio consists of RO-supported projects.

BSIF also lauded the reduced exposure to fluctuating power prices with between 83% and 89% of the assets’ revenue derived from the FiT, which is fully RPI indexed.

The Solar EIS project comprises a 463kWp commercial rooftop project in Corby, Northamptonshire which was con-

nected in July 2011, whereas Bluefield Peregrine’s portfolio includes nine PV pro-jects installed on various Thames Water Utilities sites across south and west London with a combined capacity of 430kWp.

Bluefield Kite’s portfolio comprises 19 separate installations with a total capac-ity of 824kWp. Included in the portfolio is a 50kWp rooftop installation on the Millennium

Seed Bank, as well as 18 further Thames Water Uti l i t ies instal lations on sites in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

The deals have been purchased using BSIF’s revolving credit facility provided by RBS and shift additional assets owned by the wider Bluefield Group to under BSIF’s ownership, taking BSIF’s portfolio of solar PV installations to 59.

Asset management firm Aquila Capital has added a second solar array to its portfolio after acquiring an unnamed

9.8MWp installation near Sheffield.The solar farm was developed by Blue

Planet Solar and German EPC firm Pfalzsolar and was connected to the national grid in March 2015, making it eligible for the 1.4 ROC support scheme.

Susanne Wermter, head of the special investment team at Aquila Capital, said the company had targeted the UK due to its subsidy support programme and high ener-gy prices, which have made it an “attractive

investment case”.Last month the UK government released

proposals to cut funding for solar pro-jects under 5MW in size a year earlier than planned, effectively ruling out future support for all utility-scale solar farms after 1 April 2016.

Aquila made its first move into the UK mar-ket in June this year, acquiring an unnamed 7.2MW solar farm near Banwell in Bristol from German developer New Energy for the World.

The Germany-headquartered company has extensive holdings in solar assets outside of the UK with a portfolio in excess of 400MW mainly spread across continental Europe.

24 August 2015

17 August 2015

The unnamed 9.8MWp project in Sheffiled is Aquila's second in the UK.

Included in BSIF's acquisition is the rooftop array on the Millennium Seed Bank. Image: David Iliff/Wikicommons.

14

SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

Bluefield Solar adds to UK portfolio after confirming third interim dividend

Asset management fund Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) has bolstered its portfolio with two sub-5MW projects

after confirming a third interim dividend for the year.

BSIF has entered into binding contracts to acquire a 4.79MW plant in Cornwall and a 4.98MW farm in Norfolk for a total consider-ation of £11.22 million which will be funded using the company’s revolving credit facility with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Both projects qualify under either the Renewable Obligation Certificate or Feed-in Tariff schemes and BSIF confirmed that nei-ther will be impacted by recently announced changes to renewable energy subsidies.

“The board is happy to announce a further interim dividend and is pleased with the con-tinued excellent performance of the portfolio. These two new acquisitions will build on the company’s sector leading portfolio,” John Rennocks, chairman of the company, said.

Finlay Colville, head of market intelligence

at Solar Intelligence, said the announcement was “important” due to it being one of the first from an asset holder regarding sub-5MW sites that qualify for 1.3ROCs.

“Until now, most of the announcements for site acquisitions have been for larger 1.4ROC sites completed in Q1’15 or sites that qualify under the 2014 grace-compli-ance for 1.3ROC build-out.

“Bluefield is ranked in the top five of com-panies with the largest portfolios of solar farms in the UK, and is likely to be seeking to add to its existing portfolio with both 2014 grace-compliant options and further 5MW sites over the next few quarters,” Colville said.

BSIF also confirmed that it will pay a third interim dividend of 1.5 pence per ordinary share for the financial year ended 30 June 2015, taking the total dividend for the finan-cial year to 5.75 pence – a 43% increase on the 4 pence divided paid during the financial year ended 30 June 2014.

28 July 2015

BSIF are to buy the two farms - its 30th and 31st in the UK - for a total consideration of £11.22m.

Martifer Solar expands Italian O&M portfolio with 11.5MW deal

Portuguese project developer Martifer Solar has added 11.5MW of PV plants to its operations and maintenance

(O&M) portfolio in Italy.The company will service 14 separate roof-

top and ground-mount projects in Puglia, Lazio and Veneto for the Italian company Green Utility.

Martifer said the new project additions took its global solar O&M portfolio to 600MW. Plants are located in Europe, Asia and the Americas, and include projects built by Martifer and by third parties.

Policy changes have all but halted new deployment of large PV projects in Italy, but Martifer said developing its O&M business

was a key part of its strategy for a market that nonetheless has a significant installed project base.

CEO Henry Rodrigues said: “We expect, with the experience we have gained through our track record as an O&M service provider, to double the capacity of our O&M portfolio in the near future.”

Sep 09, 2015

15

SECONDARY MARKET TRANSACTIONS

Bluefield European Solar to list on London Stock Exchange

Bluefield European Solar Fund (BESF), a new solar investment vehicle to be advised by Bluefield Partners, has an-

nounced its intention to list on the London Stock Exchange and raise €200 million (£142 million) for PV acquisitions.

The vehicle will target solar assets across Europe – excluding Greece – but will primar-ily focus on the Italian and Spanish markets, countries in which the company has already established a target portfolio of assets with a total capacity of 49MWp.

The target portfolio of 29 individual solar arrays is to be secured with an expected con-sideration of €157 million and BESF expects to raise the investment from its share issue over the course of the coming 12 months.

BESF’s investment strategy is to tar-get operational utility-scale and commercial assets and intends to derive at least 60% of its activity on a net asset value basis from Italy and Spain after Bluefield said the “frag-mented nature” of those markets was “ideally suited” to its asset management experience.

“We expect to be able to use our specialist knowledge to quickly and efficiently consoli-date a large, high yielding asset base for our shareholders,” said James Armstrong, man-aging partner at Bluefield Partners.

BESF is to have a four-strong board com-prising of non-executive chairman and former deputy chairman of GDF Suez Sir Neville Simms, senior non-executive director Anthony Brooke and non-executive directors Paul Meader and Ian Burns.

Simms said the European market rep-resented an opportunity to create “above average, long term returns” as long as it was approached in a “defensive way”. “The deep solar experience of the Investment Adviser’s specialist team and market leading track record combined with the scale of the opportunity provides the foundation to build a market leading solar focused energy com-pany in the coming years,” he added.

Goldman Sachs is acting as the compa-ny’s global coordination and sponsor while Numis Securities and UBS Investment Bank

are joint bookrunners for the IPO, and BESF has already secured commitments from investment funds BlackRock and Newton Investment Management to contribute 10% of the IPO each.

Last week Bluefield Partners’ solely UK-facing fund Bluefield Solar Investment Fund was one of several companies to state that it would be hit by Chancellor George Osborne’s decision to remove the Climate Change Levy exemption for renewable energy.

14 July 2015

BESF is to list on the London Stock Exchange and tar-get various European markets. Image: Good Energy.

Foresight adds to portfolio with 34.7MW Wiltshire farm

Foresight Solar Fund has added an-other large utility-scale solar farm to its portfolio, this time a 34.7MW asset in

Wiltshire.The asset management firm revealed the

purchase in a statement to the market this morning, adding that the 1.4ROC-accredited Port Farm takes the company’s total asset capacity to 322MW.

Port Farm was one of a number of

Renesola assets connected to the grid prior to March’s RO deadline, and its sale to Foresight continues the two companies’ association in the UK market.

The pu rchase was funded us ing Foresight’s existing £150 million acquisition facility and the company expects to repay the cost through a long-term debt facility and further equity raises in the future.

Just last month Foresight complet-

ed a deal with Belectric UK subsidiary Big60Million to acquire stakes in three of its solar farms with a total capacity of 34MW, and earlier this month said it was pursuing a 300MW pipeline of assets in the UK.

Foresight chairman Alexander Ohlsson said at the time that he believed the UK solar market was still an “attractive” one to invest in with a “strong pipeline of potential oppor-tunities”.

27 August 2015

16

BONDS

Big 60 Million gains Climate Bond Initiative certification

Community energy company, Big60Mil-lion has had three of its solar bond offers certified under the global Cli-

mate Bond Initiative (CBI) standard.The CBI standard confirms to poten-

tial investors that the funds are being used to deliver climate change solutions. Big60Million’s Atherstone Solar Farm Ltd (15MW), Southam Solar Farm Ltd (10MW) and Paddock Solar Farm (9MW) all secured certification under the CBI standard.

The official validation report stated that the 34MW of solar projects “will achieve resource efficiency consistent with avoiding dangerous climate and will contribute to Low-Carbon Economy and are therefore eligible to be cer-tified under the CBI standard.”

Reacting to the news, Paul Camp, f inance and business development at Big60Million said: “We are delighted that

our three Big60Million projects, Atherstone, Southam and Paddock Wood have been certified under the Climate Bond Initiative global standards programme. Partnering with Foresight Group, one of Europe’s larg-est yieldco’s proves that community investors and professional investment funds can work successfully in partnership with both recog-nising the value in operational solar farms built by Belectric.”

Camp’s views were echoed by Ricardo Pineiro, director of Foresight who explained that the “innovative partnership of institutional and community finance will act as a template for further co-investment opportunities as we seek to increase the community involvement in solar power generation in the UK”.

However, the Conservative government has enacted wide-ranging changes to solar PV’s support mechanisms at all scales which

threaten the viability of community solar schemes. In response to a potential severe reduction in feed-in tariff rates for solar, Phil Powell, director of Gwent Energy CIC told Solar Power Portal that his community model was “now dead”, stating that the “proposed tariffs will barely cover the administration costs alone”.

28 August 2015

Three of Big60Million's solar projects have been award-ed the CBI standard. Image credit: Big60Million

17

FUNDRAISING

UK solar developer Lightsource raises US$438 million

The UK’s largest solar developer Light-source Renewables has refinanced yet more of its solar assets, this time raising

£284 million (US$438 million).Lightsource worked with financial advi-

sor Royal Bank of Scotland to refinance a 101MW portfolio of 33 operational ground-mounted solar assets, each accredited under the feed-in tariff.

A statement issued by Lightsource on Wednesday said the move represented its first into the long-dated institutional market. M&G Investments provided the majority of the funding – £247 million of 22-year inflation linked financing – while AMP Capital provided a £37 million, eight-year mezzanine facility.

Mezzanine financing allows the lender to convert a loan into ownership or equity inter-est in the debtor if the loan is not paid back in time and in full.

Paul McCartie, structured finance direc-tor at Lightsource, said the deal was a “significant milestone” for Lightsource. “We have raised over £1.1 billion of pro-ject financing this year which is an amazing achievement and wouldn’t have been pos-sible without the support of the lenders and advisors who work with us,” McCartie added.

Last month Lightsource shifted a new batch of its projects to investment partner Octopus Investments as part of a wider £400 million refinancing totalling 522MW, spread

across 74 separate projects.Lightsource has been prolific in its develop-

ment of utility-scale solar farms and its recent refinancing initiatives come as it has amassed a significant pipeline of potential assets at a crucial period for the UK market.

With the renewable obligation (RO) support scheme set to close next year, developers are currently facing a further rush to have pro-jects complete before the window shuts on 31 March 2016.

John Mayhew, head of in f rastruc-ture finance at M&G Investments, said that the injection of finance would be used by Lightsource to develop further sites across the UK.

04 November 2015

Neoen seeks funding from European Investment Bank for PV portfolio

Independent energy company Neoen has reached out to the European Investment Bank for €56 million (US$62,403,320) in

order to construct a portfolio of 25 projects in France with a combined generation capacity of 300MW.

The installations would each boast a capacity of 12MW and would be located in the town of Cestas — in the Aquitaine region of the country. The total cost for the instal-lation of all 12 projects is estimated at €352 million (US$392,497,600).

The European Investment Bank will review an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the sites during appraisal, which also includes a verification of compliance with national and EU environmental and biodiver-sity mandates.

Sep 04, 2015

Ingeteam gains €55 million loan from European Investment Bank

Inverter manufacturer Ingeteam has been granted a EUR55 million (US$61 million) loan by the European Investment Bank

(EIB) for its research and development in re-newable energy.

Ingeteam will use the loan to finance R&D activities with PV systems, wind turbines and hydropower and thermal plants. The loan will also be used for activities in elec-tricity distribution systems, industrial process

control systems and electric power control systems.

The research will be conducted during this year at Ingeteam’s facilities in the Basque Country, Navarra and Albacete in Spain.

Aug 18, 2015

18

MARKET STATE

UK installed capacity to exceed 9GW this week

Quercus unveils new renewable energy infrastructure funds

The UK will surpass the 9GW solar capacity barrier this week owing to a significant increase in installations

eligible for the so-called ‘ROO-FiT’ pro-gramme, PV Tech’s sister title Solar Power Portal can reveal.

The reve la t ion fo l lows a substan-tial deployment of utility-scale solar in Q1 2015 under the renewables obligation (RO) programme, which resulted in more than 2.5GW being installed in the first three

months of the year. The RO closed to pro-jects over 5MW this March and will close to ground-mount projects under 5MW at the end of March 2016. The ROO-FiT scheme is for systems between 50kW and 5MW in size.

Subsequent quarters have seen 253MW and 317MW connected respectively, push-ing the UK to just below the 9GW barrier at the end of September. Solar Intelligence’s real-time data shows this will surpass 9GW

sometime this week.The figures come less than a week after

the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change claimed current capacity to stand at around 8.2GW, with just 73MW of solar installed under ROO-FiTs in 2015 to date.

In a blog for Solar Power Portal today, Solar Intelligence’s Finlay Colville discusses DECC’s problems in failing to account for ROO-FiT deployment, contributing to the underestimation of UK solar deployment.

Quercus Assets Selection, an investment company focusing on renewable ener-gy, has announced plans to start two

renewable energy infrastructure funds — grow-ing its total funding portfolio to five.

The creation of these two new funds will aid the recently launched Quercus European Renewables fund in order to help maximize the portfolio’s risk/return profile through diversifica-tion.

Quercus is planning to generate a minimum combined target of €500 million (US$546 mil-lion) across all three funds, which is set to be invested in connected wind and solar plants in Italy, as well as in other renewable sites across Europe.

Diego Biasi, co-founder and CEO of Quercus, said: “We look forward to fur-ther building on our established track record through the launch of two new funds. In addition to generating attractive returns de-correlated from the fluctuations of financial markets, these projects offer a safeguard from market shocks and provide capital protec-tion as well as stable, long-term cash flows. Quercus funds are therefore an ideal invest-ment for pension funds, foundations, banks, and qualified investors. Our knowledge of the market means that we can rapidly source and identify the best opportunities in order to opti-mize the asset allocation of the portfolio.”

In particular, the Quercus Italian PV fund

boasts a fundraising target of €150 million (US$163.8 million) and plans to focus on solar projects throughout Italy.

The Quercus European Renewables fund will invest in multi-technology assets with a minimum threshold of €200 million (US$218.5 million), and is set to invest in the production facilities of multiple renewable energy sources across Europe.

In addition, Quercus is also rolling out the Quercus Italian Wind fund, which will have a fundraising target of €150 million.

The funds will boast a long-term invest-ment horizon of a minimum of 10 years and a planned Internal Rate of Return (IRR) per year of 8-10%.

Nov 02, 2015

Oct 28, 2015

19

MARKET STATE

UK’s Lightsource readies ‘significant’ investment for Ireland push

Wircon starts work on Scandinavia’s largest solar plant

Lightsource Renewable Energy, the UK’s largest solar developer by capacity, has confirmed it is to launch a considerable

push into Ireland’s nascent solar PV market this year.

A statement from the company said it was to invest “significant resource and exper-tise” into Ireland to deploy solar PV across ground-mounted farms as well as rooftops by engaging with businesses, schools and local communities.

The investment – touted to be around €500 million (£353.6 million) – comes as Lightsource chief executive Nick Boyle said he was “excited by the opportunity for solar power” in Ireland.

“Lightsource is committing significant financial investment and resource towards realising this opportunity. Any risks associ-ated with the development of these solar projects, including installation costs, will be borne by Lightsource. This commitment will not only add to sustainable electricity genera-tion in Ireland, it will also strengthen the local economy and supply chain.

“Our ground-mounted solar projects will provide much-needed land diversification for farming enterprises, and our rooftop systems will enable schools, businesses and com-munity buildings to reduce overhead costs. It really is a win-win for local communities,” Boyle said.

Ireland’s Sustainable Energy Authority said in 2013 the country’s renewable energy assets generated just 7.8% of its final ener-gy demand, with solar by some distance the country’s lowest contributor with just 0.1%.

Generation is some way off the 16% tar-get the country has been set by 2020 under the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive, which increases to 27% by 2030.

Ireland’s government is understood to be publishing a new energy policy imminent-ly to highlight how the country can meet its targets and Finlay Colville, head of market intelligence at Solar Intelligence, said support mechanisms included in Ireland’s new energy policy will be vital for the market.

“Shifting to overseas markets will certain-ly be high up on the agenda at Lightsource,

if plans from UK Department of Energy and Climate Change go ahead to cull large-scale solar under the Renewable Obligation scheme from 1 April 2016. The company has been seeking to get some kind of traction in Ireland for solar farms for some time now.

“If Ireland was offering any kind of attrac-tive option today, then there would be no shortage of takers of course, highlighting the fact that incentives are yet to emerge. However, i f the forthcoming renewa-ble energy plans from the country do offer solar an opening, then it is highly likely that Lightsource would be top of the queue in deployment,” Colville said.

Boyle said he thinks solar can deploy upwards of 1.5GW in Ireland by 2020 provid-ing proper incentives are in place. “We have always been focused on building long-term relationships as we are the lifetime operator of all our projects. With an office in Dublin and locally employed staff, we will provide investment, expertise and support to busi-nesses and local communities looking to reap the rewards of solar power,” he added.

German-based PV developer Wircon has begun preparing a 60MW solar plant near Copenhagen, Denmark,

the biggest PV plant in Scandinavia.The firm began preparatory work three

weeks ago and is holding a ground-breaking ceremony on 11 August.

Expected annual electricity production is about 61,000 MWh, which is enough to sup-ply electricity to around 30,000 households.

It consists of 239,000 solar modules from Astroenergy, which belongs to China Chint Group. It also includes 1,700 inverters from leading manufacturer SMA Solar Technology.

The solar park is due to be completed by the end of November 2015 and connected to the grid this year.

Peter Vest, chief executive of Wircon, said: “The site is suitable because of its high radiation and the constant winds for cooling modules.”

Aug 11, 2015

Aug 10, 2015

20

MARKET STATE

Foresight says UK ‘remains an attractive market’, pursues 300MW pipeline

London-based asset management group Foresight Solar Fund has said the UK “remains an attractive market” despite

recent policy changes and confirmed it will pursue a 300MW pipeline in the second half of this year.

On Wednesday Foresight revealed that its existing portfolio of 263MW performed 7.4% above expectations during the six-month period ended 30 June, resulting in total gen-eration of 131GWh and H1 revenues of £14.9 million (US$23.3 million).

Profit for the period reached £5.38 mil-lion (US$8.40 million), however the company did note that it expects the recent removal of the climate change levy (CCL) exemption for renewable energies to reduce its Net Asset Value – £277.9 million (US$433.9 million) as of 30 June – by 3%.

Chancellor George Osborne’s decision to remove the CCL exemption, coupled with more recent proposals to scrap or reduce

other subsidy support for solar PV, has lead to increasing concern over investor confidence in the UK but Alexander Ohlsson, chairman at Foresight Solar Fund, believes the market is still an attractive one.

The company has outlined a pipeline of assets with a total generation capacity of 300MW that it is to pursue over the next six months of the year, having last week extend-ed its acquisition by an additional £30 million (US$46.8 million).

Ohlsson confirmed that Foresight’s imme-diate pipeline of assets were all either connected before support for projects over 5MW under the renewable obligation expired on 1 April 2015 or qualify for the grace period at a slightly reduceded support level.

“Despite the changes the Board and Investment Manager believe that a combi-nation of the investments made to date and the strong pipeline of potential opportuni-ties currently being considered will continue

to provide attractive returns together with the associated benefits of scale to shareholders over the longer term,” Ohlsson said.

Reacting to the results Finlay Colville, head of intelligence at Solar Intelligence, said Foresight remains one of the leading chal-lengers to current market leaders Lightsource and Octopus and estimated that the company could be less selective in the marketplace in the coming months.

“Until now, Foresight has been somewhat selective in its portfolio additions, with approx-imately 56% coming from four well-defined developer/EPC acquisition routes. With the range of developers and SPV-owning EPCs set to increase between now and 31 March 2016 across the 450 plus sites that are tar-geting 1.3ROC accreditation, the percentage coming from these four routes may in fact decline, with a greater number of options available to Foresight to further increase its portfolio before April 2016,” he said.

Aug 05, 2015

21

ASSET MANAGEMENT

Meteocontrol partners with 3megawatt to integrate large-scale PV monitoring services

Solar monitoring solutions provider meteocontrol and asset management software provider 3megawatt are

combining forces to offer more features to their O&M services for large-scale solar PV systems.

The joint service will provide automated import of plant data from meteocontrol’s monitor ing systems safer’Sun, VCOM (v i r tual control room) and SCADA in 3megawatt’s asset management platform

BluePoint.Safer’Sun is software that enables

mobile monitoring of solar systems by dis-playing daily updated data.

Edmee Kelsey, chief executive of 3meg-awatt, said: “This data integration offers great advantages for our clients. One of the advantages is that clients are able to automatically create energy invoices using solar industry best practice workflows and to verify time of day utility or export PPA

statements using ‘shadow billing’.”A meteocontrol statement said these fea-

tures save time and allow users to operate large project portfolios with greater efficien-cy and at lower cost.

Martin Schneider, managing director of meteocontrol, said: “We want to create the highest level of compatibility so that we can provide our customers with the most comprehensive services and have the right solution on hand for every portfolio.”

Oct 20, 2015

Enel Green Power forms JV firm to consolidate Italian PV power plants

Europe’s largest solar park connected to the grid

Italian-based renewable energy developer Enel Green Power (EGP) has teamed with Italian asset management firm F2i (Fondo

italiano per le infrastrutture) to consolidate a total of 210MW of operating PV power plants in Italy into a 50/50 joint venture.

EGP said that the deal was to enable greater value creation from the pooled plants,

including reducing operating costs and future project financing costs as well as improving energy management of the plants.

EGP said it would contribute through its subsidiary Altomonte FV, 105MW of PV assets, while F2i would add 105MW of PV assets via its subsidiary, F2i Solare.

The transaction is expected to be com-

pleted by the end of 2015, which would raise around €121 million for EGP, which also has an option to buy a majority share in the JV.

The Italian PV power plant business was expected to go through a period of con-solidation of assets owners are from a large base of financial institutions and private oper-ators.

The largest solar park in Europe, a 300MW project developed by France-based firm Neoen near Bordeaux, has

been connected to the grid.Neoen started developing the EUR360 mil-

lion (US$404 million) park 10 months ago on a 250-hectare site at Cestas in south-western France.

The park will be able to produce enough electricity for 250,000 people, the equiva-lent of the neighbouring city of Bordeaux. If heating is included this number comes down to 150,000 people, Neoen project manager

Guilhem de Tyssandier told PV Tech.A consortium composed of Eiffage, its

subsidiary Clemessy, Schneider Electric and Krinner, was in charge of the works and con-struction of the park, which was separated into 25 separate plants of 12MW each.

At the height of operations, there were 250 workers on site, installing nearly 5MW of solar panels each day in an East-West facing orien-tation.

Modules were supplied by three separate Chinese manufacturers, Trina Solar, Yingli Solar and Canadian Solar.

Electricity will be sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement with the utility EDF. The solar park has the ability to sell elec-tricity at a price of EUR105/MWh.

On 25 September, the park was connect-ed to France’s unique high voltage network Réseau de transport d’électricité (RTE), which provides electricity across the country.

PV Tech visited the plant earlier this month to take a closer look at the intricacies of its design and investigate the challenges of put-ting together Europe’s largest solar installation. A blog on the visit will be published this week.

Oct 16, 2015

Sep 29, 2015

22

ASSET MANAGEMENT

More PV on the European grid presents possibilities not problems - EUPVTP

A study has urged further research to quantify the impact of integrating increasing levels of PV into the Euro-

pean electricity grid and the possible benefits it could bring.

A paper by the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform (EUPVTP) maintains that insufficient research exists to counter com-mon misconceptions that the integration of PV into power systems is a “threat to stability or affordability”.

Instead, the EUPVTP study, which will be presented at EU PVSEC in Hamburg next week, said greater levels of PV on the grid should be seen as an opportunity, offering ancillary services and reducing the need for grid reinforcement in the face of increasing demand.

Although PV now accounts for some 3% of the EU’s electricity needs, its inherent-ly decentralised and variable characteristics put it at odds with the incumbent technolo-gies for which the power system has been designed, a fact that has been used to justify suggestions by some that too much of it will destabilise the grid.

But the EUPVPT report, ‘PV merging with

the active integrated grid’, argued that there is no quantitative basis for such claims and that more research is therefore needed to educate stakeholders on the opportunities PV presents.

“Too often the integration of PV into power systems is seen as a threat to stability or affordability,” the report said. “We would like to highlight the opportunities that this inte-gration represents. Indeed, PV systems can provide ancillary services and reduce the need for grid reinforcement in the face of increasing demand. At the centre of this potential lie advanced inverters and hybrid systems which combine PV with stationary storage or other power sources.”

The study said theoretically grids can sus-tain “unrestricted penetration” of distributed generation, as long as the quality of that sup-ply is addressed at the point of connection, through modern power electronics and dis-tributed control technologies. “Ancillary services can fully complement faultless com-mitment of distributed, renewable energy sources in line with market requirements,” it said.

But for this to happen, full cooperation of

a wider range of key stakeholders would be needed to ensure swift adaptation of power systems to accommodate greater levels of decentralised sources such as PV.

Pierre-Jean Alet, leader of the EUPVTP’s grid integration working group, said: “First of all, our study shows that there is a need to harmonise and improve the existing methods to quantify the current and potential level of PV in power grids.

“Secondly, we prove that there are many technical solutions to increase the grid host-ing capacity, some of which imply the use of smart PV capabilities like production adjust-ments to support grid frequency and voltage. But such solutions must be designed via close collaboration between the PV indus-try and other power sector stakeholders and must be underpinned by revised regulations and market rules.

“This evolution is driving a rethink of plan-ning and operation rules for power grids, which can make more efficient and flexible use of the power infrastructure. The earlier the system adjusts to a new decentralised approach, the cheaper the evolution will be,” Alet added.

Sep 10, 2015

23

POLICY

France doubles solar tender size as prices catch up with wind

The French government has doubled the size of a solar tender from 400 to 800MW, claiming that bid prices for

solar had now fallen to a similar level as wind power.

The tender for ground- or roof-mount-ed systems over 250kW had originally been set at 400MW, but as with a recent tender for mid-sized systems between 100-250kW

arrays, it was doubled due to high demand and increased ambition as new French ener-gy laws were passed.

The additional 400MW will be awarded to projects that submitted their bid before the June deadline. The energy and environment ministry revealed that for the first time, pric-es for solar electricity fell to the same level as onshore wind. Results will be revealed in the

next few weeks.According to a government statement

offers for 2,000MW of capacity were sub-mitted for 200MW of ground-mounted solar, with generally low prices offered by bidders. Projects cannot use agricultural land. Instead sites that rejuvanate contaminated land or industrial sites will be given favourable treat-ment.

Aug 21, 2015

Federal Network Agency: 136 bids listed in second German PV tender

The second round of tenders for ground mounted PV installations in Germany came to a close on 3 August – with

the Federal Network Agency noting that the capped 150MW volume of bids was over-subscribed more than three times.

In total, there were 136 bids listed in the tender.

Peter Franke, vice president of the Federal Network Agency, said: At [the] pre-sent, the Federal Network Agency is still examining the admissibility of the 136 [bids].

Germany has seen its PV installation rates drop over the years – with the coun-try reverting to a capped tender program to introduce new projects.

Earlier this month, the Federal Network Agency announced that only 95.5MW of PV capacity was installed in June 2015. While 7.6GW of PV installations were developed in Germany during 2012, that total dropped to 1.89GW in 2014.

In February 2015, Germany announced that ground-mounted solar would be cut

down to just 1.2GW between 2015-17, with tenders falling in scale each year from 500MW in 2015 to 400MW in 2016 and ending at 300MW in 2017. In June at this year’s Intersolar Europe trade show, David Wedepohl, director of communications and markets at the country’s solar association, BSW-Solar, spoke of a “rather sad picture of the German market at the moment” and lamented that Germany was likely to miss its 2.6GW new PV capacity target for this year.

Aug 07, 2015

France doubles mid-sized solar tender to 240MW

The French government has doubled the size of a tender for 100-250kW solar systems from 120MW to 240MW.

The move will see each of the three tranches of the tender increased equal-ly from 40 to 80MW. The first of the three rounds concludes in September. The second and third stages will also include specific support for installs on agricultural buildings.

A price premium on electricity sourced

from PV arrays less than 100kW in size has also been doubled from five to 10%.

The moves come in the same week that the country passed its new energy laws.

The host of this year’s UN climate sum-mit ramped up its carbon price targets to €56 per tonne in 2020 and €100 in 2030. The current level is €14.50 increasing to €22 next year. It is charged as a levy on fossil fuels.

Nuclear power capacity has also been capped at today’s level of 63.2GW.

The law also established a target to create 100,000 jobs through green growth during the next three years.

Energy and env i ronment m in i s te r Ségolène Royal said the new laws would be the most advanced in Europe and would ensure France was in a position of leader-ship when the UN summit begins.

Jul 24, 2015

This report was created with articles from the following Solar Media journalists

Ben WillisConor RyanJohn ParnellLiam Stoker

Mark OsbornePeter BennettTom Kenning

Organised by: Publisher of:

1 - 3 FEBRUARY 2016Grange City Hotel, London