LONDON, UK: Platina Partners LLP, a private equity fund manager specialising in renewable energy infrastructure investments and special situation buyouts, has acquired 10MW of solar photovoltaic projects from the Degennaro Group, an Italian construction firm.
The PV projects become Platina’s first operational plant in Italy, supporting an investment strategy focused on assembly of a portfolios of operational renewable electricity generation projects across Europe.
Following this investment, Platina’s portfolio includes 162MW of renewable energy projects in operation, including 31MW operational solar PV projects, a further 82MW in construction and over 400MW of projects in development. Since Platina was established in 2002, it has invested in a combined construction and operational portfolio of over 900MW.
The 10 plants are located in the Puglia region of southern Italy and are 1MW each. The first plant was grid-connected in November and all plants are expected to be connected by the end of 2010. The Degennaro Group, a recognised family-owned construction group in the region, developed the projects, is the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) contractor and will be the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contractor for the plants.
The investment is the 12th from the European Renewable Energy Fund which Platina closed in March 2010. Platina continues to consider European investment opportunities for the remaining uncommitted funds.
Joseph Muthu, partner of Platina Partners, said: “We are delighted with this investment and the opportunity to work with a strong local partner in the Degennaro Group. We have been seeking the right opportunity to invest in Italy and see it as one of the key European solar markets. Italy has now surpassed the US in terms of solar PV installation and this growth has been driven by an excellent support regime. In Puglia, there are plenty of PV projects with planning consent but no grid connection. Clearly this investment in operational plant does not suffer from this bottleneck.”
Daniel Degennaro, CEO of Degennaro Group (“DG Group”), said: For DG Group, this transaction represents a very important acknowledgment as developer, EPC and O&M contractor in the Italian photovoltaic industry, a market in which DG Group has progressively focused its activity in recent years and is planning to further strengthen its position in the near future. The strategic decision of Platina to retain us as O&M contractor is a further recognition of our expertise and know-how in the sector.
L&B Partners S.p.A.,was the Financial Advisor to DG Group in this transaction and the legal advisor was L&B Partners Studio Legale Associato.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.