Amarenco gets €12m funding off Cantor Fitzgerald

AMARENCO Solar, the renewable energy firm that was established by former Bord Gáis boss John Mullins, has secured a €12m in funding from Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland to fuel its expansion strategy.

The senior loan note facility will finance the development of Amarenco as a “fully integrated independent power producer” across markets including Ireland, mainland Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, it said.

Cork-headquartered Amarenco expects to unveil additional funding later this year.

The company was recently awarded 40MW of projects under the first Renewable Energy Support Scheme auction. The auction was managed by EirGrid, the semi-state company that manages Ireland’s national grid.

Under the scheme, companies that have been allocated contracts will receive a guaranteed price for the power they generate.

The price is effectively underwritten by the public service obligation levy paid by consumers.

Under the first RESS, 19 windfarms and 63 solar projects around the country secured contracts.

The scheme is part of the government’s plan to ensure that Ireland is generating 70pc of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Mr Mullins, who’s executive chairman at Amarenco, said the fresh funding line from Cantor Fitzgerald is the second time this year that the solar company has raised finance.

In April this year, Amarenco announced that IDIA Capital Investissement, and three private equity groups that are part of the Credit Agricole group, had taken a €15m stake in the solar company.

Amarenco said at the time that it planned to secure €50m of funding by the end of 2020. It was also eyeing a €100m equity line to finance growth plans.

“We expect to announce one further large fundraise prior to year-end,” said Mr Mullins yesterday as it announced the funding.

“Amarenco continues to expand its global footprint and this senior facility will assist in the rapid growth of Amarenco in 2021 and going forward,” added Mr Mullins.

Outside Europe, Amarenco has a presence in Oman, Singapore, Thailand and Japan.

It has a 2.5GW pipeline of projects that are either under development or in acquisition phases.

‘We expect to announce one further large fundraise prior to year-end’