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Italy: The Future is Bright: Senior Associate Charlie Wright speaking at the Future Parity conference in Milan

  • Italy
  • United Kingdom
  • Spain
  • Energy and infrastructure - Clean energy

30-04-2019

On 16 April 2019, Energy and Infrastructure senior associate, Charlie Wright, presented at the Future Parity conference held in Milan, Italy. The event was attended by more than 100 delegates, including international funders, developers, advisors and corporates. Charlie addressed the issues debt funders are facing when deciding whether to provide development and/or construction financing for grid parity solar PV projects in Spain and Italy.

With the energy transition in full flow, Mediterranean countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece) are looking to understand how to achieve the deployment of new clean energy power plants in order to achieve EU and Government clean energy targets. Solar PV is undoubtedly going to play an important role in this.

The conditions in many energy markets in the Mediterranean are such that grid parity clean energy projects (i.e. where the LCOE (levelised cost of energy) for such projects is less than or equal to the power price of the electricity market) are now feasible. This means that solar PV projects can be built without subsidies from governments. The lack of subsidies leads to a number of challenges for developers and funders in securing development and construction financing for such projects. With the sole revenue source being the payment for electricity under the PPA, debt funders have to scrutinise projects in great detail in order to ensure they are bankable.

Judging by the level of interest in the key markets in the Mediterranean, there is going to be large scale deployment of solar PV and onshore wind in a number of jurisdictions in the next decade in the run up to the 2030 EU targets deadline.

The Energy and Infrastructure team are excited to play their part in the next chapter in the energy transition. Charlie commented: “We are at the next turning point in the energy transition in a number of jurisdictions in Europe and MENA. We are looking forward to using our expertise and capabilities to work with our clients and industry stakeholders to assist in the deployment of grid parity clean energy projects in the region.”

If you would like to discuss anything referred to in this article, please get in touch with the team below.

For more information contact

Michelle T Davies, Partner
Marco Franzini, Partner
Guido Galeotti, Partner
Charlie Wright, Senior Associate

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