Ence Energía's €220 million refinancing loan gets S&P green evaluation

Ence Energía is seeking to restructure its debt through a €220 million (US$261,40 million) facility which will expand its biomass power generation business. The proposed €220 million deal will be used to finance expansion at Ence Energía through a 40 MW biomass facility as well as to refinance its existing debt, which is and will continue to be ringfenced from the debt related to the pulp business division.

Ence Energía will begin construction of the new 40 MW biomass facility in Huelva in quarter four 2017. It is due to be finished and fully operational by the end of 2019.

The proceeds will, in part, finance Spain-based biomass generation capacity projects. Once completed, Ence Energía’s total biomass generation capacity will rise to 210 MW.

While not a green-labelled bond, the financing shares many similar structures and provisions. This is combined with strong scores in both the Mitigation and Transparency categories. The final score of 79/100 sits in the ‘E1’ category – the highest available on S&P’s evaluation, which ranges from E1 (highest) to E4 (lowest).