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ISIF-Capital Stage make EUR 140m commitment to Irish PV
German asset manager Capital Stage and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund have formed a EUR 140m partnership to back developer Power Capital’s 140MW Irish solar PV pipeline.
Power Capital co-founder Peter Duff said the investment from Capital Stage and the ISIF announced yesterday (January 18) was a “vote of confidence in the solar market in Ireland generally, which is currently on an upward trajectory”.
Power Capital’s development assets are made up of more than 20 parks, ranging in size from 5MW to 25MW.
The group secured planning approval for 110MW of projects in 2017, and expects to secure the remaining approvals in the first quarter of 2018.
Ireland currently has no support mechanism for solar PV, although Ireland’s Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) concluded an initial consultation on new technology-neutral auction support to replace the outgoing REFIT system in November 2017.
In the meantime, the Power Capital portfolio could look to secure revenue via corporate PPAs.
The group is “actively engaging with large energy consumers in Ireland who have commitments in terms of meeting their high energy demands through renewable sources,” Duff added.
Power Capital co-founder Justin Brown said last autumn that the company had around 75MW of PV ready to build in 2018, provided the “right economic support is in place”.
Nevertheless, Irish PV projects will likely currently need to receive EUR 90/MWhr – EUR 105/MWhr prices to get built, and while there is corporate demand from data centre owners and big pharma, there is also currently a pricing gap, the Power Capital head said at the time.