Enpal Raises €345 M for New Solar Projects in Germany

To accelerate the development of solar energy in Germany, solar solutions provider Enpal has secured debt commitments of €275 million from internationally leading investors BlackRock, Pricoa Private Capital (the private capital business of PGIM), and UniCredit in its recent round of fundraising. In addition, further institutional commitments of €70 million were signed in the form of a subordinated mezzanine loan.

The senior and junior facilities will jointly be used to refinance more than 15,000 new solar plants and energy storage systems. This transaction increases Enpal’s overall refinancing commitments to €500 million.

Governments and companies will need to invest at least $92 trillion by 2050 in order to cut emissions fast enough to prevent the worst effects of climate change, according to a recent analysis by Bloomberg. More and more financial institutions are therefore promoting investments and funding in green energy.

“We are very excited to collaborate with leading international players like BlackRock, Pricoa Private Capital and UniCredit,” said Enpal founder and CEO Mario Kohle. “The fact that prominent international investors are committed to fighting the climate crisis is a very important signal.”

“This commitment enables us to further pursue our vision of providing green and affordable energy to private households and to fuel our growth,” highlighted Gregor Burkart, Head of Project Finance at Enpal. “We are humbled and very excited to partner with some of the most prominent names both within commercial banking as well as within the institutional investor space.”

ING Bank and the corporate finance boutique IDCM acted as financial advisors to Enpal on this transaction, legal advice to Enpal was provided by Greenberg Traurig. “With ING, IDCM and Greenberg Traurig we were advised by trusted partners with deep understanding of Enpal’s business model which allowed us to execute this transaction efficiently and successfully,” emphasized Gregor Burkart.

The lenders were advised by Simmons & Simmons (transaction documentation & legal due diligence), Everoze (technical due diligence), and Marsh (insurance due diligence). For the senior debt commitments, UniCredit further acts as KfW Agent and Account Bank, and ING Bank B.V. is engaged as Senior Agent and Security Agent.

Enpal wants to make green energy accessible for the mainstream. “Not all customers have the necessary funds to purchase a solar system upfront. Our dream is that everyone has a solar system on their roof, an electric car in front of their house, a storage unit in their home, and to bring all these people together to form one big community,” explained Enpal co-founder Viktor Wingert.

Solar systems are particularly popular with homeowners in Germany. According to the German Solar Industry Association, no other form of electricity generation grew as strongly as photovoltaics in 2020.