PPA announced for Solarcentury and Encavis project Talayuela Solar

Valencia, September 17 2019: Solarcentury, the global integrated solar power company, together with the solar and wind operator Encavis AG, has announced the signing of a financial Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for Talayuela Solar; the 300 MWp project in Cáceres, Spain. Talayuela Solar is being built without subsidy and the power from the plant will be sold on the open market. The swap that has been signed is a financial instrument which hedges the off-take price for approximately 75% of the volume of production ensuring both a secured stable income for the first 10 years of operation and the bankability of the project.

The PPA is based on industry standard documentation published by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), more commonly used to hedge financial interest rate or currency risks and has been tailored to the Talayuela Solar project. The PPA is structured as a hedge of Talayuela Solar’s capture price rather than base load price, thus providing an optimal as produced hedge for the Talayuela project revenues.

The PPA counterparty is a leading international energy company with a solid investment grade credit rating and a pan-European asset base, active in more than 40 countries and with a proven track record in financial hedges.

Jose Miguel Ferrer, General Manager of Solarcentury in Iberia said: “PPAs of this nature are still extremely new and rare; the signing of this contract is the culmination of a significant amount of work that will help lay the track for the expansion of subsidy-free solar in Europe.” Solarcentury has a 1GWp pipeline in Spain and a 5GWp pipeline globally.

At 300MWp, Talayuela Solar will be one of the most powerful solar projects in Europe. The solar energy produced is enough to power 150,000 homes for an entire year (enough to power all the homes in Badajoz). The plant has been developed by Solarcentury in conjunction with Kompa Solaire Sasu and Genia Global Energy Solutions, SL. In October 2018 80% of the plant was sold to Encavis AG with Solarcentury retaining a 20% stake.

The connection to the grid is already completed, all permits are in place and Solarcentury is expected to start construction in the Autumn. The plant is expected to be connected to the grid by the end of the second half of 2020.