Low Carbon secures European bank debt package for renewable energy rollout

Low Carbon, a renewable energy company, has successfully raised over £500m to finance its construction of large-scale generation and storage assets. A global consortium of ten banks has backed the package.

This includes French lender Société Générale, Spain’s Santander, Norway’s DNB and three British banking groups—Lloyds, NatWest and HSBC—among others.

In a statement, Low Carbon confirmed that the funds will refinance an existing construction line for a 1GW portfolio comprising solar and battery storage assets. Additionally, the capital structure also includes construction equity for future assets.

The debt raise was structured as a 10-year senior facility complemented by an additional 5-year Holdco facility. The combined package is aimed at supporting the company’s growth in UK, Germany and Poland.

“This debt raise is a testament to Low Carbon’s ability to raise flexible and efficient capital utilising a wide range of senior and subordinated products. It is also a consequence of our strong partnership with the international debt markets and will allow us to continue supporting the energy transition”, commented Low Carbon’s head of financing Fernando Dominguez de Posada.

The participating consortium combines Low Carbon’s new and existing lenders. Both Lloyds and NatWest are examples of the latter.

“Lloyds has been a relationship bank for Low Carbon since its inception in 2011 and we’re proud to support it at this significant point in its growth strategy, with one of the largest debt raises in the European renewables market”, said Victoria Whitehead, managing director, head of infrastructure and transport at Lloyds.

Low Carbon’s institutional investor base includes infrastructure fund manager CVC DIF and US insurer MassMutual.

Roy Bedlow, Low Carbon’s chief executive views the debt package as evidence of investor confidence in not only the company’s business model but also its pipeline.

“Long-term partnerships with investors and lenders are fundamental to Low Carbon’s continued growth. This landmark capital raise demonstrates the confidence that leading international banks have in our vision and ability to deliver large-scale renewable energy to the grid”, said Bedlow.