Our Investment Banking team acted as a sell-side advisor to Slovenia-based ESCO company Resalta in the sale of Energy 9, a 5MWe biomass CHP plant in Croatia, to PEARL Infrastructure Capital, a specialized infrastructure fund backed by Edmond de Rotschild PE, EIB and other strategic anchor investors.
Energy 9 is a 5 MWe woodchip-fired CHP plant located in Slatina, Croatia. The plant started commercial operations in December 2018 under a 14-year PPA with state-owned market operator HROTE. The PPA envisages a CPI-linked feed-in tariff of 195 EUR/MWh in 2020. Vast majority of feedstock is secured through a 14-year contract with Hrvatske šume, whereas the remainder is supplied by private suppliers through long-term agreements. Both EPC and O&M provider (under a 14-year contract) is Đuro Đaković TEP, the regional leader in the segment of thermal energy solutions with a 100-year tradition based in Slavonski Brod. The plant supplies electricity to 4,789 households and enables avoiding 57,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
PEARL Infrastructure Capital was founded by an expert team of environmental sector leaders who joined forces with the Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity platform to create a private equity fund dedicated to energy transitions, the circular economy, and environmental impacts. The fund’s first closing took place in May 2019. In March 2020, PEARL completed its final closing with total commitment in the fund reaching EUR 280m, significantly above its EUR 200m objective. The acquisition of Energy 9 is the fund’s first investment and a seminal investment in Croatia. PEARL plans further acquisitions in Croatia which it recognizes as an important market.
