Platina acquires solar farm

Renewable energy fund advisor Platina Partners has secured €70m in funding to acquire Arico solar energy farm from energy operator Endesa.

The acquisition has given Platina a total Spanish solar capacity of 31MW, making it one of the largest in the local market. Debt financing for the transaction was provided by NORDLB and Banco Santander.

Arico is an 11MW farm located in one of the sunniest regions in Europe and has been generating electricity for the past year. The farm will be managed by Anemoi Renovables, a Spanish renewable energy development company funded by Platina’s Mistral Energy II fund in a 50:50 joint ownership structure with Platina’s European Renewable Energy Fund.

The recently funded Arico is the second investment Platina has made through its EREF fund, following the financing of the Orites wind farm in Cyprus.

Out of a total development portfolio of over 1000MW, Platina has now financed over 200MW of wind and solar projects across Europe. The PE firm intends to finance a further 100MW during the course of 2009/10.

Partner at Platina, Alexandre Labouret said: “We are delighted to be adding more operational renewable energy projects to our extensive portfolio. This shows that long term debt is still available for projects with the right risk profile.”