MIDIS delivers over £100m in long-term infrastructure debt for NextEnergy Solar Fund

• MIDIS delivers long-term fixed and index-linked debt for NextEnergy Solar Fund
• The second NextEnergy Solar Fund debt facility now in place with MIDIS
• Investment marks MIDIS’ 15th investment in renewable projects

Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (MIDIS) has structured a new long-term debt facility for NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF), delivering over £100 million of infrastructure project financing.

The investment is part of a £150 million debt facility from a syndicate of lenders, with MIDIS being the sole institutional investor. The fixed and index-linked debt tranches will be used to refinance 21 solar plants, with an installed capacity of 241MWp, and will fully amortise by their maturity in 2035. The facility includes a number of attractive features for NESF, including inflation hedging, an initial five-year grace period for principal amortisation and a staged draw-down to reduce cash-drag.

In April 2016, MIDIS arranged £55 million in project financing for NESF to a portfolio of five operational UK solar assets. The first round of debt was secured solely by this portfolio and is due to mature in 2034.

Tom van Rijsewijk, Associate Director at MIDIS said: “We are delighted to be working with NESF again and provide them with a second long term debt facility. The terms reflect an innovative hybrid structure – made up of bank and institutional tranches which each reflect the different preferences for each type of lender.”

The transaction highlights the increasing role being played by institutional investors in renewables projects. Since 2012, MIDIS has invested approximately £900 million in renewables transactions globally, across 15 projects, totaling approximately 2GW of installed capacity.