WFW advises Northleaf and Qualitas Energy on €280M Spanish PV plant green refinancing
Watson Farley & Williams ("WFW") has advised Northleaf Capital Partners (“Northleaf”) and Qualitas Energy on a €280M refinancing for a 493.92 MW photovoltaic (“PV”) plant located in Mula, Murcia, south-eastern Spain.
Owned by Northleaf and Qualitas Energy, the plant is one of the largest PV generation projects in Europe. Its existing debt was refinanced through a green loan from a syndicate of financing entities comprising BBVA, EDC, DekaBank, Unicaja, and Bankinter.
Northleaf is a global private markets investment firm with over US$23bn in capital commitments raised to date and a successful long-term track record as a mid-market infrastructure investor.
Qualitas Energy is a leading investment and management platform focussed on renewable energy, energy transition, and sustainable infrastructure investment. Its existing portfolio currently holds more than 5 GW of operating and in-development energy assets, including over 1 GWp of solar PV, 242 MW of solar thermal power, 3 GW of wind, 243 MW of battery and 180 MW of renewable natural gas assets, as well as 60 MW of hydroelectric power assets across Spain, Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland and Chile.
The WFW Madrid Finance team that advised Northleaf and Qualitas Energy was led by Partner Jose María Anarte, working closely with Senior Associates Antonio Cáneva and Laura Fontán and assisted by Associates Beltrán Silva and Arancha Ruesta.
Jose María commented: “This is a major green financing transaction involving some of the leading national and international players in the Spanish renewables sector. We are delighted to have once again assisted long-standing clients Northleaf and Qualitas Energy, their continued trust in us to handle complex and landmark transactions such as this one highlight WFW’s standing as a ‘go to’ law firm for in-sector multijurisdictional sustainable finance expertise both in Spain and globally”.