Elawan Energy has closed $162.74 million of bank debt to build a 171 MW portfolio in Spain. Four of the five projects are wind farms, and one is a solar plant. Measured per megawatt, the loan sits near the very top of what Spanish renewable projects borrowed in 2023 and 2024, and the portfolio is not especially large.
Key takeaways
- Elawan Energy closed a $162.74 million debt financing, announced on 28 February 2024, for a 171 MW portfolio of renewable energy projects in Spain.
- The Elawan Energy loan funds the construction of four wind farms and one solar photovoltaic plant in Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Palencia and Burgos, using 21 wind turbines and more than 99,200 solar panels, with operation expected in the second half of 2024.
- The Elawan Energy lenders are ING, Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander and Unicaja; Clifford Chance advised the lenders and Watson Farley & Williams advised Elawan Energy.
- The Elawan Energy financing works out at about $0.95 million of debt per MW, the second highest of 17 Spanish renewable project loans with a stated capacity that Enerdatics recorded in 2023 and 2024.
- Elawan Energy says the five projects will create more than 475 jobs in rural areas with high unemployment.
Why does a 171 MW portfolio borrow so much per megawatt?
The likeliest answer is the technology mix. Most large Spanish project loans of the period financed solar alone. Elawan's portfolio is mostly wind. Wind turbines generally cost more to build per megawatt than solar panels, so a lender sizing debt against construction cost will usually lend more per megawatt to a wind-heavy portfolio.
The record does not split the loan or the capacity between the wind farms and the solar plant. It does give the equipment: 21 turbines and more than 99,200 panels. That is enough to say the portfolio is wind-led, but not enough to say how much of the debt each technology carries. The conclusion that wind explains the gap is Enerdatics' reading of the numbers, not a disclosed fact.
Size points the same way. Larger loans tend to spread fixed costs across more capacity and borrow less per megawatt. Elawan's 171 MW portfolio is small next to the 842 MW and 1.2 GWp solar portfolios that also raised debt in Spain over the same two years, yet it borrowed far more per megawatt than either.
What does the lender group say about the deal?
It says Elawan went back to banks it already knew. Banco Sabadell and Unicaja, two of the four lenders here, also provided Elawan's $21.2 million loan for a solar project in Spain in January 2023. ING and Banco Santander joined them for the larger portfolio.
A four-bank club for $162.74 million is a modest syndicate, and each lender holds a manageable share. For a developer of Elawan's size, returning to lenders that have already seen its projects reduces the work of the second deal. They know the sponsor and have already been through its due diligence once.
The advisers fit a standard Spanish project financing. Clifford Chance acted for the lenders and Watson Farley & Williams for Elawan.
How quickly were the projects meant to start earning?
Fast. The record says the five projects were expected to be operational by the second half of 2024, only months after the financing was announced in February. That timeline matters for how the debt is priced. A loan that funds construction carries the risk that a project is late or over budget. The shorter the gap between financial close and operation, the less time that risk has to bite.
The spread of sites is wide. Spreading five projects across four provinces means no single grid connection or local permit decides the fate of the whole portfolio. For lenders, that diversity offsets some of the risk of a small portfolio.
The jobs figure belongs in the same frame. Elawan says the projects will create more than 475 jobs in rural areas with high unemployment.
Enerdatics records 72 debt financings for energy projects and companies in Spain announced across 2023 and 2024. Seventeen of them are project loans with a stated capacity that allows a per megawatt comparison. Across those 17, the median is about $0.72 million of debt per MW. Elawan's $0.95 million per MW ranks second, behind only a $50.72 million loan for a 50 MW solar plant by Matrix Renewables at about $1.01 million per MW. Utility borrowing, such as Endesa's $547.19 million from ICO and the EIB in June 2023, falls outside the comparison because it is not tied to a stated capacity. The only other portfolio in the group that mixes wind and solar, a 145 MW Greenvolt and Green Mind Ventures portfolio financed by Banco Santander in October 2024, borrowed about $0.75 million per MW.
What does the deal signal for Spanish renewable project finance?
It shows that lenders in Spain will lend at the top of the market's range when the portfolio justifies it. The Spanish loan market of 2023 and 2024 was dominated by large solar portfolios borrowing between about $0.6 million and $0.8 million per MW. A solar portfolio around Segovia borrowed nearer $0.90 million per MW on its direct current capacity. Elawan's loan sits above both, and the wind turbines are the clearest reason.
It also shows that smaller developers can still access the same lenders as the large ones. ING, Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander and Unicaja all appear repeatedly in Spain's loan market across the period. Elawan's ability to bring four of them into a 171 MW deal suggests the lenders were comfortable with the sponsor as well as the projects.
For anyone pricing Spanish renewable debt, the lesson is to separate technologies before comparing. A per megawatt figure for a mixed portfolio against a solar-only median will always look high. The fairer comparison is with other wind-led portfolios, and in Spain over 2023 and 2024 there were very few of those with a disclosed loan and capacity. That gap is a reminder of how much of the market's pricing still rests on a handful of data points, even in a country as active as Spain.
Frequently asked questions
Which banks financed Elawan Energy's 171 MW Spanish portfolio? ING, Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander and Unicaja provided the $162.74 million of debt, announced on 28 February 2024.
What projects does the Elawan Energy loan fund? It funds the construction of four wind farms and one solar photovoltaic plant in Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Palencia and Burgos, with a combined capacity of 171 MW.
How does Elawan's loan compare with other Spanish project financings? At about $0.95 million per MW it is the second highest of 17 Spanish project loans with a stated capacity in Enerdatics' records for 2023 and 2024, against a median of about $0.72 million per MW.
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