Alternus Energy Inc., a global renewable energy company, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Zonepark Rilland B.V. and its 11.75 MW ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Rilland, the Netherlands, from Coöperatie Unisun Energy U.A. for €10.5 million (approximately $11.8 million).
Rilland becomes ALTN’s largest individual operational Solar PV park and enjoys a 15-year government counterparty ‘Feed-in-Tariff’ (“FiT”) contract at fixed sales prices, in addition to a Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) with a local energy operator. The combined contracts provide long-term predictable positive cash flows to Alternus and as the park is already operational it will be immediately revenue and income accretive to Alternus. Based on current energy production Rilland is expected to add approximately $1.4 million in annual revenues for at least 15 years at average 75% gross margins.
The acquisition of the Rilland park brings group contracted recurring revenues from operational parks to over $5.7 million annually, over twice the revenues set to be recorded for 2019. Once all currently owned projects become operational, annual recurring revenues are expected to be over $7.3 million from existing assets.
Vincent Browne, Alternus Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman, commented, “We are very pleased and excited to have completed this milestone acquisition that we originally announced during the summer. This transaction marks a significant milestone and inflection point for our Company as we successfully expand into the Netherlands, the fourth European country we now have energy generation operations in, and also shows our ability to execute on acquisitions of larger parks as we continue to expand our European footprint. This park has been fully operational since January 2019 and has been producing results in excess of expectations since that time. We are currently well-positioned for future expansion in the Netherlands as we are continue our partnership with Unisun and other local developers there.”
“2020 looks set to be a transformative year for Alternus as we enter the new year with an additional 108MWs currently contracted for acquisition, in addition to the 50MWs already owned, and with over 700MWs of development and operational projects in the pipeline. We have proven our project origination abilities at competitive market prices, but equally important we have also developed key relationships with local banks and with leading European and international institutional funding partners during 2019. All of which points to a strong year in 2020 for further park additions and long term income growth, with a continuing focus on maximizing benefits to our shareholders.”
The Rilland park purchase price, which may change as a result of a working capital adjustment and earn-out of up to €0.5 million depending on the future performance, includes assumption of a third-party senior bank debt facility in the amount of approximately €7.2 million (approximately $8.1 million). Alternus funded €1.85 million (approximately $2.1 million) of the purchase price through the issuance of a €2.15 million bond issued to a leading European Renewable Energy Fund. Additionally, ALTN issued a €1.7 million (approximately $1.87 million) loan to Unisun which is due by January 31, 2020.
