- Technique Solaire has set up €133 million of senior debt for the financing and refinancing of 255 solar photovoltaic power plants in France
- Technique Solaire has set up a project portfolio financing for a cumulative capacity of 93.5 MWp.
- This portfolio includes the Group’s first 2 ground-mounted photovoltaic solar power plants in France.
- This is the largest amount of senior debt ever put in place by the Technique Solaire Group (the last one last May was for €111M).
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On February 8, 2021, the Technique Solaire Group finalized a financing operation, for a total amount of €133 million, with its historical partners: the Crédit Agricole Group (with Unifergie and Crédit Agricole de la Touraine et du Poitou) and Bpifrance.
This transaction includes a Brownfield tranche (refinancing of 76 existing plants with a cumulative capacity of 17.5 MWp) of €25 million and a Greenfield tranche of €108 million for the financing of 179 solar photovoltaic plants to be built by early 2023. The Greenfield tranche allows the financing of a portfolio of projects representing a capacity of 76 MWp which will be added to the Group’s portfolio of 96 MWp already in operation and 74 MWp already under construction.
This portfolio of 76 MWp corresponds mainly to Technique Solaire’s projects that were won in the calls for tenders and were awarded a tariff, issued by the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) (i) Buildings 4.9, 4.10 and 4.11 and (ii) Soil 4.7 and 4.8. These include the Group’s first two ground-mounted power plants to be built in France.
This financing transaction demonstrates once again the Group’s ability to set up major financing operations on a regular basis despite (i) a difficult sanitary situation and (ii) regulatory uncertainties following the government’s questioning of certain feed-in tariffs for solar electricity at the end of 2020.
In 2020, the Technique Solaire Group exceeded its annual production targets by 1.4%. In 2020, the group produced the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of 69,370 people and avoided the emission of 10,152 tons of CO². With a commissioning target equivalent to more than 100 MWp in 2021, Technique Solaire continues its efforts to participate in the energy transition.
Edouard Dazard, Director of Finance at Technique Solaire, explains: « With €133 million, this financing operation marks a new record for Technique Solaire. It is a good illustration of the change in size that the group is undergoing: with 96 MWp in operation and 150 MWp under construction today, fully financed, the group is preparing to bring 1.5 times more installed capacity into service over the next 18 months than that commissioned over the last 12 years. »
Lionel Thémine, Co-founder and Managing Director in charge of Finance at Technique Solaire, adds: « This financing operation is another successful step in the framework of our Strategic Plan, which aims to own 1GW by the end of 2024. We are delighted with the renewed confidence of our financial partners; this financing allows us to look forward with serenity and envy to the next challenges of our development. »
« We are proud to participate, alongside our partners, in this major operation that will allow Technique Solaire to continue developing its ecological transition strategy, » says Sylvain Montastier, Business Manager Financing at Bpifrance. « This operation perfectly illustrates the ambitions of our Climate Plan to accelerate the environmental transition of companies. »
Johan Mathieu, Director of the France Unifergie sales network says: « Unifergie is delighted to continue the historic support of Technique Solaire in its development with ambitious but realistic objectives for the energy transition of the territories. »
Christèle Reviron, Director of the Large Customer Agency of the Crédit Agricole de la Touraine et du Poitou emphasizes: « Alongside the managers of the Technique Solaire Group since its creation, it is natural that the Crédit Agricole de la Touraine et du Poitou was present during this new operation. It reflects our relationship based on trust and the desire to support the development of a key player in the solar energy market. »
TECHNIQUE SOLAIRE advisors on this operation:
Financial transaction advisor: Finergreen
Hedging advisor: ESTER
Legal counsel: Watson Farley & Williams
Price counsel: Aurora Energy Research
Lender-side advisors on this operation:
Legal counsel: Fidal
Technical advisor: Rina consulting
Legal auditor: Energie Legal
Insurance auditor: Marsh
Financial model auditor: H3P audit et conseil
Intervenors on the operation:
Bpifrance : Marie-Angèle Nyamsi, Virginie Aguesse, Lucie Audiat et Sylvain Montastier