H1 2021 renewables lenders rankings

inspiratia analyses the performance of lender activity in the renewables sphere in H1 2021, with the top lender maintaining first place across rankings both by transaction volume and deal count

Having lent an aggregated sum just shy of $3 billion (£2.2bn €2.5bn) with over 30 deals, the top lender for Q2 and H1 2021 is Japanese bank SMBC.

Helping SMBC reach top position by allocated deal volume is the US$854million (£625m €724m) primary financing of a 112MW biomass plant in Sendai, Japan. The bank provided a US$640 million (£469m €543m) loan to the sponsors Sumitomo Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation Tohuku for the Sendai Biomass Power project.  The Biomass power plant will generate a total capacity of 112MW which will power 260,000 households.

SMBC's lending activities in 2021 have been mostly solar deals across North and South America, and the Asia Pacific.

BNP Pariba's allocated lending volume of US$1.1 billion (£806m €933m) in the renewables market secures the French banking group second position.

The French lender was involved in a variety of sectors. Notably, it participated with a consortium of banks providing a syndicated loan of US$1.35 billion (£967m €1.3bn) to Indian sponsor Adani Green Energy. The financing sets the framework for a 1.7GW portfolio of hybrid wind and solar projects in Rajasthan, India developed through four SPVs.

Eleven banks were involved, including SMBC, Siemens Bank, Rabobank and Intesa Saopaolo.

Deutsche Bank secured third place, having lent a total allocated volume of US$782 million (£573m €663m). Amongst its deal flow, Deutsche Bank was involved in Cubico's acquisition of the remaining minority share at Spanish IPP Grupo T-Solar from MEAG last month [June 2021]. The transaction made Cubico a majority shareholder, transferring a portfolio of 47 operational solar projects, totalling 274MW in capacity, in Italy and Spain. These include 167MW of solar PV and 100MW of concentrated solar power across Spain, and 7MW of Solar PV in Italy.

Deutsche Bank participated in the financing with Santander and Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions.

Deal Count

Analysing the deal count, SMBC once again secured first place with a total of 31 deals in H1 2021.

German bank NordLB takes second place with a total of 10 deals, majority  of which focused on wind primary financing across Europe.

NordLB provided debt towards the largest onshore wind project being developed by wpd europe GmbH, the Karhunnevankangas (Karhu) project located in  western Finland with total capacity of 188MW. Financial close was reached in May [2021] and NordLB's loan was implemented with fellow German bank Commerzbank.

The project will supply power to Europe's largest paper company UPM through a long-term PPA.

French lender Societe Generale secured third place with a total of nine deals across Europe and a few in the US.

For instance, the lender was involved in financing a portfolio of two solar assets in Texas, totalling 316MW in capacity. The portfolio is comprised of the 163MW Elm Branch and 153MW Briar Creek projects, being developed by Lightsource BP. Societe Generale provided debt alongside Bank of America and ING Bank for the US$380 million (£278m €314m) deal.

Q2 2021 focus

 Analysing the data for Q2 2021, SMBC maintains first place with a disclosed allocated volume of US$717 million (£525m €609m) and 16 deals for the quarter.

It's largest allocation for the quarter was a revolving credit facility of US$150 million (£109m €127m) to finance the construction of a portfolio of renewable energy projects for Emerald Energy Ventures in North America. The RCF consists of a series of tax equity bridge loans.

BBVA ranked in second place by allocated transaction volume of US$450 million (£330m €382m), with two Spanish onshore wind and solar projects, followed by Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in third place with one deal - the financing of South African CSP plant, Redstone.

Top 10 lenders by deal count and allocated volume, Q2 2021

Source: inspiratia | datalive

Outstanding Lender is one of the many award categories in our inaugural Energy & Sustainability Awards, and we are already on fire reviewing the exciting deal flow so far. Find out more about the categories and how to participate here: www.inspiratiaawards.com