Renewable Energy Finance: UK-based asset manager Alantra forms €1.7bn fund to develop 1.9 GW of solar capacity in Southern Europe

Alantra has launched a co-investment vehicle - named N-Sun Energy - in partnership with Spanish solar PV developer Solarig, with backing from European investment firms Reichmuth and Amundi. N-Sun will gradually acquire ready-to-build (RtB) solar assets from a portfolio of 50 power plants currently under development in Italy and Spain. About two-thirds of the assets are located in Italy, while the rest are in Spain. The plants will progressively reach the RtB status within the next 18 months and ultimately be fully operational by the end of 2025. N-Sun has already finalized the acquisition of 330 MW of projects from the portfolio.

N-Sun will be backed by €1bn in debt financing and €700mn in equity capital, to be raised by Alantra. Reichmuth and Amundi have already committed €265mn to the vehicle. Solarig will oversee the development of the assets and will also provide operations & maintenance (O&M) services to the projects. Alantra Solar, the partnership between Alantra and Solarig, will deliver asset management services to N-Sun and support financing requirements while implementing a route-to-market strategy that balances power purchase agreements (PPAs) with merchant exposure. The portfolio is expected to generate more than €180mn in annual revenues starting in 2026.

Spain and Italy are two of the most attractive solar PV markets in Europe, benefitting from largely stable power prices that are decoupled from the rest of Europe, and favorable financing conditions. As per Enerdatics research, aggregate solar PV capacity in Italy more than doubled y/y to more than 5 GW in 2022, while the capacity in Spain declined slightly to 27 GW during the year. The decline can be attributed to permitting challenges and pending interconnection requests in the country, which are impeding investor appetite for under-development and in-construction assets in the short term. However, in the medium-to-long term, Enerdatics forecasts consistent y/y increases in transaction activity in the country, primarily due to regulatory changes and a continued rise in demand for clean power from the region’s rapidly growing industrial segment.

The above analysis is proprietary to Enerdatics’ energy analytics team, based on the current understanding of the available data. The information is subject to change and should not be taken to constitute professional advice or a recommendation.

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