HIH Invest buys solar park in southern Spain

HIH Invest Real Estate (HIH Invest) has acquired the Alcalá solar park in the Seville region in southern Spain. The ground-mounted photovoltaic plant was completed in December 2023, connected to the grid and is already generating electricity yields. The total output amounts to 15.1 MWp (megawatt peak). The purchase was made for the HIH Green Energy Invest fund. The seller is the German company BayWa r.e., which developed and constructed the project as general contractor. BayWa r.e. is a leading global developer, service provider, PV wholesaler and provider of energy solutions and will also be responsible for the long-term technical and commercial management of the solar park. Together, BayWa r.e. and HIH Invest have already successfully realised a wind farm project in France.

HIH Green Energy Invest is a sustainable fund with a strategy in accordance with Article 9 of the EU Disclosure Regulation and focusses on photovoltaic and wind power plants. The fund volume totalling EUR 750 million is invested in existing plants and ready-to-build projects. The primary target countries are Germany, France, Italy and Spain. However, the Benelux countries, the UK, Ireland, Poland, Portugal and the Scandinavian countries are also possible candidates. A wind farm in North Rhine-Westphalia was recently acquired for the fund, and further investments are currently being purchased or analysed.

"With the acquisition of the Alcalá solar park, we are further expanding the portfolio and also optimising its regional and technological diversification. The local conditions in the sunny province of Seville, combined with the use of yield-optimised system components, offer optimal conditions for high-yield energy production. By investing in HIH Green Energy Invest, our clients are making a contribution to the energy transition and the fund offers a return of around 7 per cent," comments Alexander Eggert, Managing Director at HIH Invest, on the purchase.

André Rolff, Head of Transaction Management Infrastructure at HIH Invest, adds: "We acquired the solar park with an existing virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with an initial term of ten years, which was concluded with Boston Scientific, a global medical technology manufacturer."

The legal due diligence was carried out by the law firm CMS Hasche Sigle from Hamburg, while the tax and financial due diligence was carried out by WTS GmbH from Frankfurt am Main in conjunction with ARCO Abogados y Asesores Tributarios in Madrid. K&S Ingenieur-Partnerschaft Krug & Schram from Munich was responsible for the technical due diligence. Gossler, Gobert & Wolters in Hamburg audited the project insurance policies.