Nippon Solar Services, operator for investments made by Sonnedix in Japan, closes financing for 33 MW Oita solar PV power plant

08 December 2015

On December 8th 2015, Nippon Solar Services (NSS) closed project financing with ING Bank as senior debt lenders for a total amount of JPY 12.1 billion.  This financing is for a utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant with a total generation capacity of 33 megawatts (MW) located in the Ōita Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan.

“This is our largest financial closing to date in Japan and a considerable milestone for our company.  We want to thank all the advisors involved in this transaction for their support.  We are looking forward to closing more financings of this type for our current pipeline of utility-scale solar PV projects in Japan in the months to come.” commented Olivier Renon, Managing Director of NSS.

The commencement of plant construction is scheduled for the first quarter of 2016 with operations starting in 2018, both of which will be managed by NSS. Engineering, procurement and construction is being undertaken by LG CNS Japan.  The plant uses solar panels manufactured by LG and inverters by TMEIC.

“Sonnedix has successfully worked with ING Bank to finance solar projects in our portfolio in Europe, and we are pleased to see a similar relationship forming between our Japanese operator, NSS, and ING Bank.” said Franck Constant, President of Sonnedix, the major investor in the project.

Erwin Maspolim, ING Bank’s Head of Utilities & Infrastructure Asia, said “The Oita solar PV project will be an excellent addition to ING Bank’s global renewable financing portfolio.  We are especially honored to support Nippon Solar Services in one of the longest tenor solar PV project financings issued by a foreign bank in Japan.  We are positive about the growth of solar PV projects in Japan and other Asian countries and we hope to further expand our business in this area.”

The following advisors have been appointed by Nippon Solar Services and the lenders:

Legal: Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Linklaters and Kanagawa International Law Office
Technical: Vector Cuatro
Financial model and tax: PWC & KPMG
Insurance: AON

About Nippon Solar Services

Nippon Solar Services is a developer, asset manager, and operator of mega-solar projects in Japan, and the trusted Japanese operator for investments made by Sonnedix (www.sonnedix.com).  For more information about NSS, please visitsonnedixjp.dev