The largest financing ever obtained in Italy for rooftop photovoltaic projects, and among the largest in the renewable sector in Italy in recent years, finally comes.... from foreigners investors.

The Sunprime Group, with the support of investors Noy Fund and Nofar Energy, announces today the closing of a project financing contract for 150 million euros with a pool of Austrian and German banks composed of Kommunalkredit Austria AG, together with KfW IPEX-Bank and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (Nord LB).

The loan will support the construction of a portfolio of greenfield photovoltaic projects in Italy for a total of 216 MW, which includes both rooftop plants and ground-based plants on industrial areas, which will benefit from a fixed tariff for 20 years granted by the Energy Services Manager (GSE) as part of the DMFER incentive scheme.

In detail, these are over 250 photovoltaic projects on the roof and on the ground scattered throughout the national territory, developed directly by Sunprime, which will be completed by the end of 2024.

Despite the current economic context, the lenders wanted to focus on the growth of Sunprime, giving rise to one of the largest project financing operations of this type in Italy and the birth of one of the main operators in the C&I (Commercial & Industrial) segment at European level. The transaction follows the investments in the company by Noy Fund and Nofar Energy for a total of 72.5 million euros.

An innovative business model

At the base of the choice of lenders there is Sunprime's innovative business model: to install photovoltaics where it is most sustainable, on the roofs of buildings, removing asbestos, if present, or on industrial land minimizing the consumption of agricultural land. Sunprime develops commercial offers based on the needs of companies and property owners, with the aim of generating value for its partners, redeveloping abandoned buildings and industrial sites, while producing solar energy distributed where it is really needed, reducing electricity expenditure for its partners.

Sunprime is a fast-growing independent electricity producer, founded by a team of energy professionals in Milan in 2020, which in a short time was able to create a vertically integrated operator in the photovoltaic sector. The group is currently developing photovoltaic projects throughout Italy, focusing on the commercial and industrial segment (C&I), on ground-mounted photovoltaic systems on industrial land and Energy Storage. Sunprime's project pipeline currently consists of 200MW of projects ready for construction, of which 60 are under construction, and over 300MW under development.

After this important financial result, Sunprime earns a place among the world's leading PPIs able to obtain financing for a significant amount of senior debt through international and complex project finance transactions.