Largest thin film solar power plant in Germany to date

International legal practice Norton Rose has advised an international consortium of banks led by Bayerische Landesbank and UniCredit Bank AG on the financing of a portfolio of eight solar parks with a total capacity of 128.4 MWp located on the former Soviet military airbase Templin/Groß Dölln. It is the second largest solar power plant (and the largest thin film power plant) in Germany to date. The total investment costs amount to €200m, with a debt financing volume of over €150m.

The solar power plants were erected by Belectric Solarkraftwerke GmbH using First Solar modules. A renewable energy fund for private investors established by Commerz Real Fonds Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH acts as project initiator and will be responsible for raising the funds required to realise the transaction. The solar parks are operated by eight German SPVs, while separate subsidiaries operate the substations and grid connection.

“Besides its sheer size, the transaction stood out especially for its corporate complexity. Further challenges were the significant regulatory changes in tariffs for solar power under the German Renewable Energies Act during the structuring phase and the fact that the site is a former Soviet airbase with related pollution issues”, says Dirk Trautmann, responsible partner at Norton Rose.

The team was led by partner Dirk Trautmann (Banking, Munich), assisted by Steffi Ileona Birkholz, Christian Bauer, Johanna von Proff, Felicitas Wheeler, Ines Heukäufer (all Banking, Munich).

For Norton Rose, this is the second highly complex and prominent transaction in the renewables sector in Germany in 2013. A team led by partner Dirk Trautmann had advised a banking consortium on the financing of the offshore wind farm Butendiek earlier this year.

http://www.nortonrose.com/news/79410/norton-rose-advises-consortium-of-…