(Finance) – The Chiron group, an independent development, investment and management platform in the renewable energy sector in Italy has signed up with UniCredit a loan, on a project finance basis and divided into various credit lines, of 17 million euro.
The loan, certified in accordance with the “Green Loan Principles” and which benefits from funds BEI (European Investment Bank) dedicated to energy transition, is aimed at supporting the construction and commissioning costs of 4 new subsidized renewable energy production plants located in Veneto, Lombardy and Friuli-Venezia Giulia on non-agricultural areas. All this in a logic of reduction of soil consumption and electricity production close to final consumers.
The new plants will have a total installed capacity of over 19 MWp and an expected annual production of around 27 GWh per year, capable of covering the annual needs of around 9,000 Italian families.
Once in operation, the plants will make it possible to avoid climate-altering emissions of over 14,000 thousand tons of CO2 equivalent per year and to save the annual consumption of approximately 1.16 million cubic meters of methane gas, allowing vice versa for the production of electricity from clean and renewable.
The plants, currently under construction and expected to start operating by November 2023, will integrate the current pipeline under construction of the Chiron group which for 2023 alone will amount to over 50 MWp.
UniCredit has structured this project finance green loan with a long-term duration and with elements of substantial innovation for this type of energy asset.
These energy assets, thanks to the positive impact in terms of climate change mitigation and increased national energy security, are an infrastructural work aligned with the EU objectives of the Green New Deal as well as the Italian ones of the National Energy Plan and the Integrated National Plan for Energy and Climate.
Paolo Pesaresi, CEO of Chiron said: “We are thrilled to be able to announce this important ESG financing transaction together with UniCredit. This is a new green loan to support our important investment pipeline that arrives a few months after the one at the end of 2022. For us, this is further confirmation of the solidity of our team and the scalability of our business model. We are very proud to have once again demonstrated our ability to carry out challenging projects with speed and quality of execution, actively contributing to the fight against climate change and to our country’s energy independence in such a particular historical moment as the current one”.
Marco Bortoletti, Lombardy Regional Manager of UniCredit said: “UniCredit has made a concrete commitment to the transition towards a green and sustainable economy through financial support to customers who want to invest in transforming their production model. This new operation for the Chiron group demonstrates our ability to provide customers with innovative solutions capable of having a positive impact also on the country’s energy independencein line with European and national programmes”.
UniCredit, which acted as Sole Structuring MLA & Bookrunner and Sustainability Coordinator, Financing Bank, Hedging Bank and Accounts Bank, was assisted by the legal boutique Green Horse for the legal aspects, EOS Consulting for the technical aspects, AON for the insurance companies while and KPMG for financial model audit.