Masdar acquires nearly 50% stake in four solar energy plants from Spain’s Endesa
Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar has completed its acquisition of a 49.99 per cent stake in a €368 million ($432 million) portfolio of four operational solar photovoltaic plants from Endesa in Spain, expanding its presence in Europe.
The transaction includes €69 million in equity by Masdar, with an additional €115 million of acquisition financing, the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), which has a stake in Masdar, said in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Thursday.
It adds 446 megawatts of gross operational solar PV capacity to Masdar’s portfolio.
The deal was first announced in March. Masdar said at the time that the deal will support the company’s growth in the Iberian Peninsula and across Europe, and aid the region’s renewable energy ambitions.
In July last year, Masdar invested €817 million to acquire a nearly 50 per cent stake in Spanish utility Endesa’s solar energy assets. The agreement, which has an enterprise value of €1.7 billion, included the Abu Dhabi company acquiring a portfolio of 48 operational solar plants of 2 gigawatts aggregated capacity from Endesa.
Masdar and Endesa – which is a subsidiary of Europe’s largest electricity group Enel – said they also aimed to add 500 megawatts of battery energy storage system to the projects.
This year, Masdar and Enel also signed an initial pact to explore potential renewable energy opportunities in countries including Italy, Spain and Germany.
Masdar projects in pictures
Masdar, jointly owned by Taqa, Adnoc and Mubadala, has developed projects in more than 40 countries with a combined capacity of more than 51 gigawatts.
The company aims to reach net-zero by 2050.
In July, Masdar and Iberdrola announced their co-investment in the 1.4-gigawatt East Anglia Three offshore wind farm located off the Suffolk coast in the UK, with each party taking a 50 per cent stake.
The project will be “pivotal in advancing Europe’s ambitious offshore wind development targets”, Masdar said.
The companies also reached financial close for the project in July. Project financing facilities totalling £3.6 billion were secured with 23 banks and the Danish Export Credit Agency.
The financing will cover a substantial part of the total project costs, estimated at approximately €5.2 billion, Masdar said.
Last year, Masdar also acquired Saeta, a renewables platform with an operating portfolio of 745 megawatts of predominantly wind assets, and a 1.6 gigawatt development pipeline in Spain and Portugal.