Sishen Solar PV

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74MW Sishen Solar PV project reached financial closure in June 2013, as Windfall 59 Properties, a project company for the project signed a loan facility with Nedbank and Investec to finance the project. The facility would be constructed on a 620 hectare site 17km northwest of the town of Kathu, an area known as one of the best irradiation sites globally, and would use 319,600 crystalline solar panels. Sponsors of the project were Acciona Energy SA (51%), Aveng Limited (29%), Soul City Institute (10%) and Dibeng Trust (Local Community Fund) (10%). EPC contractors were Acciona(50%)/Aveng (50%) and legal advisers were Webber Wentzel for the borrower and Bowman for the lenders. HSBC was financial advisor to the project. Electricity produced from this Solar PV power plant would be connected and sold to Eskom under a PPA for 20 years. Expected operation date would be December 2014. Estimated total cost of the project is US$238.8 million. As for the financing details, Investec and Nedbank Capital acted as joint mandated lead arrangers for US$179 million of senior debt, with primary shareholders being Acciona Energy South Africa (51%) and Aveng Africa (29%). The MLAs arranged and underwrote US$89.5 million each and both banks wrote interest rate swaps on their debt. Sponsors to be added Aveng Limited (South Africa) http://www.aveng.co.za/ Soul City Institute (South Africa, non-profit) http://www.soulcity.org.za/