The decision of the Italian energy firm to acquire a 2.8 GW-plus solar pipeline in Spain and France has come on the same day it was announced Eni would assume 1 GW of solar capacity in Spain from another business. The value of neither deal, nor the form of finance involved, has been revealed.
Italian energy business Eni has announced a second deal to acquire a significant Spanish solar portfolio today, hot on the heels of this morning’s news of its intent to purchase a 1 GW solar portfolio from Spanish real estate asset management company Azora.
The second announcement, revealed by Madrid-based solar developer Dhamma Energy, concerns a plan by Eni business Eni gas e luce to acquire the Spanish and French solar assets of Dhamma, for an undisclosed investment.
A press release issued by Dhamma today stated the deal, if approved by regulators, will involve the transfer of more than 120 MW of operational or under-construction solar generation capacity in France as part of a more-than-2.8 GW development pipeline across France and Spain. Some 400 MW of that total figure, Dhamma said, is at an “advanced stage of development.”
News broke earlier today of Eni’s purchase of a 1.2 GW Spanish renewable energy portfolio from Azora, which includes five “advanced stage solar projects” with a total generation capacity of 1 GW, which are expected to be operational by 2024.
As pv magazine has reported, Eni only entered the Spanish PV market in February, with the purchase of 140 MW of capacity from U.S. and Canadian-owned, Madrid-based developer X-Elio.
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Dhamma Energy today said it would continue to operate in other markets, such as Mexico, where the company boasts a 2 GWp development pipeline, according to its LinkedIn page. The developer also said it would focus on its recent green hydrogen business.
Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi, quoted in today’s Dhamma Energy press release, said: “This transaction will help to boost our renewable power generation capacity in accordance with our growth strategy by continuing to expand in Spain and especially by launching our presence in the renewables sector in France, where Eni gas e luce already has a solid presence and a significant customer base. For Eni gas e luce, France and Spain are pivotal markets in which the company will increasingly enhance its value through the integration between [electricity] retail and renewables.”
Dhamma said it was supported in its solar portfolio sale by the Nomura Greentech business of the Japanese financial holding company Nomura, as financial advisor; and by London-headquartered law firm Fieldfisher, and Madrid-based Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados, as legal advisors.
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Source: pv magazine
