The financing obtained by Torresol Energy (the joint venture between Masdar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mubadala Development Co., and SENER, an international multidiscipline engineering company) for the construction of the Valle 1 and Valle 2 Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants (in Cadiz, Andalusia) has received the ‘Deal of the Year 2009’ award in the ‘Clean Technology’ category, as part of the ‘Project Finance Deal of the Year’ awards given by the Euromoney agency, which publishes the sector’s reference journal, Project Finance. The award, which has been presented in London on 11 February, is in recognition of the work of Torresol Energy, as the project sponsor, and of the senior lenders, Banco Santander, La Caixa, BBVA, Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), Caja Madrid, Banco Español de Crédito and Banco Popular Español, as well as the law firm Latham & Watkins, which acted as legal advisor to Torresol on the transaction. The financing obtained totalled EUR 540 million over 20 years. The seven financial institutions acted as “Mandated Lead Arrangers” in this agreement, which guarantees the construction of the twin Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants, the total investment for which reaches EUR 700 million, and which will be completed by 2011. Once operational, the plants will have a thermal storage system with a capacity of over 7.5 hours, they will supply safe, clean energy to 80,000 households, and will reduce CO2 emissions by 90,000tons/yr.
