Amplio continues Italian projects with new funding
The Amplio Group has announced that its solar subsidiary, Amplio Solar, has secured a €18 million leasing financing from Unicredit to invest in two solar plants with a total of 4.3 MW in the Province of Medio Campidano, in the Sardinia Region of Italy. This expansion completes the non-recourse project or leasing financing of 28 MW of Amplio Group's fully operational solar portfolio of 31 MW, with a total investment to date of approximately €140 million.
This latest investment underlines a successful few years for Amplio Solar, a period in which it has added approximately 31 MW of solar photovoltaic ("PV") plants. Amplio group's portfolio now reaches across a number of regions of Italy. 20 MW of ground mounted plants are distributed in Sicily (3 MW), Puglia (8 MW), Lazio (7 MW) and Abruzzo (2 MW), and 11 MW of rooftop mounted PV arrays are clustered in southern Sardinia.
Amplio Solar's growth opportunities in the Italian market follow basically three directions: the acquisition of portfolios of operating assets, the development of several Concentrated Solar Power sites, and positioning in the emerging energy storage space.
Amplio is also looking to expand out of Italy into selected attractive international markets with strong fundamentals and where the firm has the ability to secure financing with commercial and multilateral banks. The main regions of focus are in Latin America and Japan, where the firm is concentrating on acquiring portfolios of permitted projects.
Amplio was assisted in securing the financing by Fidimprese S.r.l., a financial advisor specializing in the arrangement of leasing financing with Italian banks.
Alberto Dalla Rosa, CEO of Amplio Solar, commented, "This announcement cements our strong position in the Italian solar power market, which remains an attractive place for solar investment, particularly in concentrated solar power and the secondary market for operating PV plants. We are also looking forward to moving into international markets, where in Japan and Latin America we have identified regions that present us with exciting opportunities to further grow our portfolio."
Riccardo Segat, CEO and Founder of Amplio Group, commented, "We have shown that regardless of the economic conditions Amplio is able to secure financing for our projects. Amplio Solar remains on track and focused on our goal of owning and managing a 100 MW business in the near term. We are looking forward to partnering with individual and institutional investors to take advantage of new international opportunities."
