Winch Energy and Ampere Equity Fund achieved financial close on the first tranche of a portfolio of photovoltaic solar power stations in Italy on 28 October 2010.
This tranche involves the construction of 10 plants in the Puglia region of south Italy, with a total capacity of 9.7 MW. Construction is expected to start in Q4 of 2010, with completion expected in March 2011.
Senior funding was provided by Investec. Ampere, part of Triodos bank, took a majority equity stake with Winch taking the remainder. The construction contractor is Global Energy Services Italia.
Operis provided financial modelling services to Winch and separately performed a model audit including a tax and accounting review on behalf of Investec, Winch and Ampere.
