Hamburg, 21 March 2024 – HIH Invest Real Estate (“HIH Invest”) just acquired the Alcalá solar park in Seville province in southern Spain. The ground-mounted photovoltaics plant was completed and connected to the electricity grid in December 2023, and already generates electricity income. The total output amounts to 15.1 MWp (Megawatt peak). The acquisition was completed on behalf of the HIH Green Energy Invest fund. Seller is the German company BayWa r.e., which developed the project and oversaw its construction as general contractor. BayWa r.e., who is a globally leading developer, service provider, PV wholesaler and supplier of energy solutions, will also handle the technical and commercial management of the solar park for the long term. In a previous joint effort, BayWa r.e. and HIH Invest successfully implemented a wind farm project in France.
HIH Green Energy Invest is a sustainable investment fund with a strategy pursuant to Article 9, Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (EU), and focuses on photovoltaics and wind power plants. The fund volume in the amount of 750 million euros is being invested in existing plants and in projects ready for construction. Primary target countries are Germany, France, Italy and Spain. However, the fund will also consider investments in the BeNeLux countries, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, and the Nordics. The latest acquisition completed on behalf of the fund involved a wind park in North Rhine-Westphalia, while further investments are either in the acquisition phase or undergoing pre-acquisition audits.
“With the acquisition of the Alcalá solar park, we are enlarging the portfolio further while optimising its regional and technical diversification at the same time. The conditions on the ground in the sun-blessed province of Seville combine with the use of yield-optimised system components to provide optimal parameters for a high-yield energy production. By investing in HIH Green Energy Invest, our clients actively contribute to the energy transition while the fund will pay them about 7 percent in returns on investment,” said Alexander Eggert, Managing Director of HIH Invest, as he commented on the acquisition.
André Rolff, Head of Transaction Management International at HIH Invest, added: “We acquired the solar park along with an existing virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for an initial term of ten years, which was signed with Boston Scientific, a major US medical technology vendor.”
The legal due diligence was conducted by the Hamburg-based law firm of CMS Hasche Sigle while the fiscal and financial audits were done by WTS GmbH based in Frankfurt am Main in collaboration with the Spanishlaw firm of ARCO Abogados y Asesores Tributarios in Madrid. Responsible for the technical due diligence was the engineering firm of K&S Ingenieur-Partnerschaft Krug & Schram in Munich. The project insurance coverage was reviewed by Gossler, Gobert & Wolters, a Hamburg-based industrial insurance broker.