January 4, 2010

Fustiñana, Spain: OPDE Secures €100 Million in Project Financing

Spanish multinational OPDE, dedicated to the promotion, development, construction, operation and maintenance of solar photovoltaic plants, has just signed one the largest project finance deals in Spain for solar photovoltaic projects.

The agreement has been signed with Banco Santander, La Caixa and BBVA for two solar photovoltaic projects in Tordesillas (Valladolid) and Valtierra (Navarra), which together have a capacity of 22 MWp. The capital financed amounts to €100 million. This signing was the 'finishing touch' for 2009, a year where OPDE has financed, built and connected a total of 28.38 MWp in Spain.

This figure has put the company into the top post in the ranking of construction developers of photovoltaic solar power in Spain in 2009 with a 20% market share in ground plants built in the country, a position held since 2008 with a then consolidated turnover of €560 million.

Specifically, the completed projects throughout this year were the solar farms within the framework of the RD 661 located in Belvis de Monroy (Cáceres), with 1.87 MWp, Toro (Zamora), 4.4 MWp; and new solar plants Valtierra (Navarra), 11 MWp, and Tordesillas (Valladolid), also 11 MWp, earmarked within the RD 1578. These photovoltaic solar farms have been funded through a Santander Bank Club Deal, La Caixa and BBVA with over €125 million, in the form of Project Finance for these solar plants.

In the construction of these projects MECASOLAR 1- Axis Azimuth seasonal trackers were used; TRINA modules and SMA inverters, technologies that OPDE have been working with for years and have obtained the highest plant yields in the Group to date.

According to reports from Ramon Tejadas, Director General of the OPDE Group, the company has now on its books new photovoltaic solar farms in La Lora (Valladolid, 2.75 MWp)-connected and in operation under the first call of the RD 1578 - and in Écija ( Seville), of 1.76 MWp-the latter recently obtained in the 4th call of the RD 1578/2008. Both projects will also be financially structured during the first quarter of 2010.

Forecasts for 2010 OPDE point towards building another 20 MW in Spain. According to Ramon Tejadas, the end of the year has been a "complete success" for OPDE and also shows "that both cost-effective photovoltaic projects, with predictable cash flows, and companies like Group OPDE with solvent and strengthened balance sheets, continue to have important options for financing projects in a difficult financial environment."

In fact, he adds, the recently signed 22 MWp Project Finance was structured and signed in just two months With the projects closed throughout 2009, OPDE has reached a record figure of 115 MW promoted and built in Spain over the past five years (2004-2009).

Further details about: OPDE