Prothea, an advisory firm specialized in renewable energy, announced today the successful transaction of a 3,2 MWp solar photovoltaic plant operating in Lazio near the municipality of Aprilia, previously owned by the group Eurowood S.p.A..
Prothea acted as the exclusive advisor of the buyer, a High Net Worth Individual with several investments in the renewable energy sector. The legal due diligence has been conducted by Giulio Giuggioli, partner of the law firm Agnoli & Giuggioli
The solar installation, a single ground mounted photovoltaic plant, was connected to the national grid in 2010 and it benefits from the incentive tariffs granted by the 2nd Conto Energia. The plant is equipped with inverters Siemens and modules Suntech and, since its connection to the grid, has produced on average 1.500 kWh/kWp demonstrating an optimal quality both from a technological and engineering standpoint, producing 4.8 GWh of electricity per year on average.
The terms of the acquisition contemplate the assignation of the O&M activities to La Termica S.r.l., while the Asset Management services are now conducted by Prothea and Geosol Italia S.r.l.. The buyer took over the contractual obligations of the financing contract with Unicredit Leasing as well.
The renewable energy market in Italy undergone a transition phase due to the Spalma Incentivi regulation, included in the so called law decree Competition (DL 91/2014) enacted by the Government during last June, that comes after a series of normative interventions that penalized the sector, primarily the solar photovoltaic one. The first rumors on the willingness of the Government to intervene retroactively on the solar photovoltaic incentive tariffs have begun to circulate last April and lasted for the next several months, generating uncertainty among the market operators. Our multidisciplinary team with complementary backgrounds and experiences, has allowed us, even in challenging times like this one, to be concrete and to complete the acquisition processes in which we are involved being able to adapt quickly to the market changes advising on solutions that guide investors to better choices for the protection of their investments said Marco Sartor, Renewable Energy Director.
The law decree was finally converted into law in August by the Law 116/2014, which confirmed the retroactive intervention. The most immediate effects of this regulatory changes are related to the net loss in the value of the solar photovoltaic assets due to reduced cash flows resulting from the incentive tariffs granted by the Conto Energia enacted by the previous Governments, with effects on the net assets value of the companies that have invested in the sector. The government has infact declared its intention to raise approximately 600 Mio per year just through the restructuring of the subsidies granted to the solar photovoltaic park installed. The market and regulatory framework seriously complicated the growth and consolidation of the photovoltaic market. We are convinced that the sector will recover and regain a good growth rate thanks to the size of the renewable market (47 GWp of renewables installed at the end of 2012, as per the latest statistical report from GSE), the technological maturity of the renewables, the energy dependency from abroad and to the achieved maturity as a financial asset class affirms Dr. David Armanini, Managing Director of the advisory boutique.
