Blue Elephant agrees refinancing for 4-MW solar portfolio in Italy

February 8 (Renewables Now) - German solar and wind farm operator Blue Elephant Energy GmbH has obtained a EUR-15-million (USD 16.1m) credit facility to refinance a 4-MW portfolio of solar parks in Italy.

The financing was provided by Germany’s Bayerische Landesbank, law firm Watson Farley & Williams, which was the lender’s legal advisor, said earlier this week.

The specific portfolio consists of six photovoltaic (PV) parks in northern Italy’s Piedmont region. All of them have been generating electricity since 2011 and are backed by feed-in tariffs provided by the government’s Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE).

Apart from refinancing the assets, funds from the debt facility will go to revamp the sites so as to extend their life by another 30 years and boost the power output by over 30% The project will include upgrading the systems with the latest technologies and replacing their fixed-tilt structure with solar trackers.

Blue Elephant owns the solar portfolio through its local subsidiary BEE Piemonte Srl. The German firm became its owner in the summer of 2022, expanding its total installed capacity in Italy to 72 MW.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.072)