Release
The financing for the Torresol Energy Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants receives the Euromoney Project Finance Deal of the Year Award 2009 in the Clean Technology Category
The financing obtained by Torresol Energy (the joint venture between Masdar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mubadala Development Company, and SENER, a leading international multidiscipline engineering company) for the construction of the Valle 1 and Valle 2 Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants (in Cadiz, Andalusia) has received the ‘Deal of the Year 2009’ award in the ‘Clean Technology’ category, as part of the ‘Project Finance Deal of the Year’ awards given by the Euromoney agency, which publishes the sector’s reference journal, Project Finance. This is one of the most important prizes in the field of structured financing in Europe. The award, which has been presented in London on 11 February, is in recognition of the work of Torresol Energy, as the project sponsor, and of the senior lenders, Banco Santander, La Caixa, BBVA, Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), Caja Madrid, Banco Español de Crédito and Banco Popular Español, as well as the law firm Latham & Watkins, which acted as legal advisor to Torresol on the transaction.
The financing obtained totalled €540 million over 20 years. The seven financial institutions acted as “Mandated Lead Arrangers” in this agreement, which guarantees the construction of the twin Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants — the total investment for which reaches €700 million — and which will be completed by 2011. Once operational, the plants will have a thermal storage system with a capacity of over 7.5 hours, they will supply safe, clean energy to 80,000 households, and will reduce CO2 emissions by 90,000 tonnes per year.
The Project Finance awards are the first in the industry, and began 11 years ago. On average, 300-350 of the best deals for a given year are entered for the awards, selecting the best in different industrial sectors. Torresol Energy has won the award in the ‘Clean Technology’ category, where the innovative technology of the Valle 1 and Valle 2 solar plants has been recognised.
The financing of the Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants is in addition to that obtained previously for Torresol Energy’s flagship project, the Gemasolar solar thermal plant, which obtained dual financial backing in November 2008, from various banking institutions, and in November 2009 from the EIB. Work on the construction of this plant in Seville, with 17 MW of power and a production of 110 GWh per year, is progressing on schedule. With these three solar thermal projects, Torresol Energy has made total investments of €1,000 million over the last year.
Subscribe to Alternative Energy Africa today for more in depth news in the alternative/renewable energy sector and be sure to grab your risk-free trial to see what we’re doing in 2010.