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In one of the largest renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPA) linked to an onshore power plant in Europe, a global energy company will offtake the electricity for a period of 10 years. Canada-based middle-market investment firm Northleaf Capital Partners is also a partner in the project. Watson Farley & Williams advised Northleaf and Qualitas on the PPA. The Mula PV plant, which reached commercial operation in Jul '19, was awarded to developer Cobra Concessions in the Spanish government’s third renewables auction. Enerdatics calculates the project's investment to be ~$500mn, representing a cost metric of ~$1mn/MW, which is in line with reported figures for projects of this size and scale.
Qualitas currently holds more than 3.3 GW of operating and under-development assets, including more than 1 GWp of solar PV, 242 MW of thermal solar (CSP), 1.5 GW of wind, and 63 MW of battery storage capacity across Spain, Germany, the UK, Italy, and Poland. The company is currently exploring new PPA opportunities in the markets where it is present, backed by proceeds from its recently launched fifth flagship fund - QE V. The fund reached its first close of more than €1.1bn in Nov’22 and has a target size of €1.6bn. Concurrent with the closing of the Mula PPA, Qualitas signed a contract for its 113 MW Milkowice solar PV plant in Poland.
Spain and Poland are currently two of the hottest PPA markets in Europe, according to recent reports. As per Enerdatics research, Spain continued its dominance of Europe’s PPA market for the fifth consecutive year in 2022, recording more than 2 GW of corporate PPAs or ~10% of the continent’s contracted capacity during the year. Meanwhile, Poland ranks high among Europe’s emerging markets, witnessing nearly 300 MW of corporate PPAs in 2022, with activity rising by 70% y/y. Spain benefits from stable power prices that are decoupled from the Russian gas supply, ensuring a favorable market for corporate buyers. On the other hand, the absence of Russian gas in Poland has increased the demand for renewables, leading to competitive price increases in domestic power contracts.
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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