LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The Renewables Infrastructure Group has exchanged contracts to acquire a 100% interest in four solar photovoltaic (PV) sites in the province of Cadiz, Spain, it announced on Monday, with a total capacity of 234MW.
The FTSE 250 company said the transaction was expected to complete for the three projects that are ready-to-build in the third quarter of 2021, while the fourth was expected to complete in the first quarter of 2022, once development activities were finalised and it was ready-to-build.

It said the new solar investment in Spain added to its technological and geographical diversification, including diversification of power markets and weather systems.

The projects do not rely on government subsidy, and its investment manager would consider a range of power price hedging strategies to manage their exposure to changes in merchant power prices.

TRIG said the projects had been developed, and were being built by, Norwegian state-owned utility Statkraft, with construction expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Through contractual measures put in place, TRIG would not bear any construction risk as part of the transaction, due to a right to put any of the four projects back to Statkraft in the event that a project was not successfully commissioned by its long stop date.

Whilst it was the first investment in Iberia for TRIG, its investment manager InfraRed had "significant" experience in the region, and was currently managing an investment in a 600MW solar development platform in Spain.

On completion, the projects were expected to represent about 6% of the company's portfolio value, with the investment to be funded from any of its revolving credit facility, retained earnings or capital raised from equity issue.

The revolving credit facility was currently £141mdrawn, following investments made earlier in the year.

Following completion, the facility was expected to be drawn around £200m, and the company would also have outstanding commitments of approximately £285m due over the next three years relating to projects in construction.

"This first investment in the Iberian region is a landmark for TRIG, and complements the existing portfolio," said chairman Helen Mahy.

"It builds on the portfolio's technological and geographic diversification, which are key to long-term portfolio resilience."

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