January 31 (Renewables Now) - Limes Italia has raised seed capital for the development of over 500 MWp of unsubsidised solar projects in Italy, the renewable energy developer said today.
Funds have been secured from primary institutional investors and high net worth individuals enticed by the increasing attractiveness of the Italian subsidy-free solar market. Independent advisory firm Prothea led the process.
Limes Renewable Energy holds 50% in the newly incorporated vehicle, while the other 50% are in the hands of the investors.
The huge portfolio of Limes Italia solar projects, with sizes of between 10 MWp and 50 MWp, will be developed from initial feasibility to a ready-to-build status over the next three years, Limes said. The solar parks will be located in areas receiving a lot of sunshine and with “interesting electricity price dynamics”.
Limes said it will take advantage of the progressive reduction of capital expenditure for new solar assets, the growing appetite for power purchase agreements (PPAs) combined with energy demand recovery, and the progressive alignment of investment return expectations in the secondary market with greenfield utility scale unsubsidised assets.
“We believe that 2018 will already see an increase in the solar installations in Italy compared to 2017, and that from 2019 onwards Italy will see again more than 1 GW of new constructions per year,” said Cristiano Spillati, CEO of Limes Italia.
References
T. Tsanova. Renewables Now. (31-01-2018). Limes Italia to develop over 500MW subsidy-free PV. [online] Available at: https://renewablesnow.com/news/limes-nabs-funds-to-develop-over-500-mwp-of-subsidy-free-pv-in-italy-600103/