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With £540m raised in the last year, today’s announcement represents one of the largest private construction debt facilities of its kind
The finance facility will enable the construction of an additional 448MW of solar PV capacity in the UK and the Netherlands
Global renewable energy company Low Carbon has increased its existing solar PV construction facility by an additional £310 million with leading international banks ABN AMRO, ING, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Intesa Sanpaolo (IMI CIB Division), continuing the company’s rapid growth trajectory.
The £310 million finance facility announced today takes the total amount of debt funding raised by Low Carbon to £540 million, making it one of the largest Gross Asset Value (GAV) based construction debt facilities in the private sector.
With this funding, Low Carbon will be able to redouble its efforts to grow its core capacity through the construction of 448MW of solar PV projects in the UK and the Netherlands. Combined with the initial finance facility announced last year, the additional funding brings Low Carbon’s total solar PV pipeline under construction in the UK and Europe to approximately 1GW. This will provide enough renewable energy capacity to power approximately 350,000 homes and avoid 300,000 tonnes of CO2e.
The capital commitment of Tier 1 international banks ABN AMRO, ING, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Intesa Sanpaolo (IMI CIB Division) demonstrates Low Carbon’s strong track record of directing investment into large-scale renewable energy projects. The four banks will join NatWest, Lloyds Bank and AIB in the existing facility to help fulfil the company’s ambitious project pipeline.
See related article: Morningstar Sustainalytics Launches its Low Carbon Transition Ratings
This announcement builds further momentum in support of Low Carbon’s strategic goal to create 20GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030 as it looks to play a leading role in accelerating the global energy transition.
Commenting on the announcement, Founder and Chief Executive of Low Carbon, Roy Bedlow, said: “We are delighted to have four leading international banks join our efforts to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy infrastructure at scale. The UK and the Netherlands represent key investment markets for Low Carbon, and deploying nearly 1GW of solar PV capacity will play a significant role in helping us to deliver our strategic goal of creating 20GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030.”
Head of Financing at Low Carbon, Fernando Dominguez de Posada, said: “We are delighted to welcome ABN AMRO, ING, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Intesa Sanpaolo into the Low Carbon family. This Closing is an important milestone for Low Carbon and highlights our ability to raise flexible and efficient structured funding products at scale, a skill that will be critical if we are to deploy the ambitious pipeline that we have in front of us.”