Founded in 2011, Low Carbon is a global renewable energy investment and asset management company focussed on projects across a range of renewable energy technologies, including solar PV (solar photovoltaics), wind, energy storage, waste-to-energy and energy efficiency.
The company operates in multiple markets – including the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Germany, Sweden and Poland and the US – and has so far deployed more than £600 million in capital into renewable infrastructure. More than 1GW has already been developed – powering 390,000 homes with clean energy and saving 750,000 tonnes of CO2 each year – while 17 new solar PV sites across the UK and Netherlands and further investment achievable under the financing facility will deliver a further 1GW once constructed.
Seeking funding for the construction of these 17 ‘pipeline’ projects, Low Carbon approached NatWest to help structure Low Carbon’s inaugural solar platform financing and the first greenfield solar transaction in the UK since 2018.
Working closely with Low Carbon, the NatWest team put in place an innovative financing package, which consists of a £230 million committed term loan and a £200 million uncommitted accordion. The short-term term loan and flexible extension option will fund the construction of the initial assets, while the accordion enables Low Carbon to invest in additional projects.
The financing package provides Low Carbon with a flexible and scalable solution to develop and manage its international project pipeline in the medium term. NatWest is the sole top-tier lender in the three-bank consortium.
Fernando Dominguez de Posada, Head of Financing at Low Carbon, commented: “We are very pleased to have secured this financing package, which not only helps us to deliver our project pipeline but also enables the ongoing expansion of our business into large scale asset construction and operation. The next decade is crucial to slowing the pace of climate change, and it is imperative that we rapidly deploy renewable energy at scale. In the ongoing fight against climate change. We thank the NatWest team for their support as well as for ensuring the transaction closed in a timely fashion.”
Lyudmil Banev, Infrastructure & Project Finance at NatWest, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support Low Carbon’s inaugural solar platform financing as the cornerstone lender and hedge execution bank, further enabling the ongoing expansion of Low Carbon’s market leading development business into large-scale asset construction and operation. Delivering the innovative financing package involved close and open collaboration between the client, the banks and all advisors, and we are pleased that the resulting structure provides a flexible and scalable solution to enable Low Carbon’s ambitious immediate and medium-term pipeline. The platform will provide a sizeable contribution to the UK and European energy transition and in turn support NatWest’s purpose, and our commitment to extend £100 billion of Climate and Sustainable Funding and Financing by the end of 2025”
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