Lenders advice on 180MW French portfolio

Published December 2016

Everoze advised the lenders as part of project financing of a 180 MW mixed wind and solar PV portfolio in France.

The total long term debt financing is approximately EUR 260M, with mandated lead arrangers CEPAC and Auxifip/Crédit Agricole Languedoc. The financing is split in 3 batches of 3 projects which will reach financial close sequentially through 2017.

For each of the nine projects in the portfolio, Everoze examined a wide range of technical risks, including those associated with; energy yield, consenting, land agreements, grid, tariff, structural and environmental suitability, construction and operation contracts, and financial model inputs.

The timing of the transaction gave Everoze the opportunity to get involved early enough in the process to have a direct impact on the project documentation thereby enhancing the projects’ bankability.

On top of a standard technical due diligence scope of work, Everoze also carried out a detailed risk assessment of feed-in-tariff rights for each of the portfolio projects to be commissioned between 2017 and 2018.

The Everoze work has been led by French partners Arnaud Thome and Christophe Campistron, supported by broader project team including Brieuc Pey, Richard Whiting and Jerome Jacquemin on the wind projects and Raphael Lagache and Thiebault Mura on the solar projects.

Gael Joly, Valeco Financial Manager commented “It has been a pleasure to have Everoze as the lender technical advisor on this transaction. Throughout the process, Everoze has demonstrated a high level of knowledge, flexibility and reactivity. The seniority of the project team allowed smooth due diligence process and pragmatic approach on the risk assessment.”

Following financial close, Everoze undertake ongoing construction monitoring work desktop review, site visits and wind turbine inspections to support the take-over process.