(Bloomberg) -- China Three Gorges Corp. has agreed to buy a 494-megawatt solar plant in Spain from Canada’s Northleaf Capital Partners Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The deal values the Mula plant in Murcia, one of Europe’s largest, at about €430 million ($449 million), including debt, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter isn’t yet public. Northleaf holds an 81% stake in the project, while Spanish fund Qualitas Energy owns the rest.
The acquisition will allow CTG to build on its position in the Iberian region — a market it regards as strategic — at a time when clean-energy assets are drawing investors’ attention across Europe. The Chinese company had previously considered a bid for Spanish clean-energy producer Saeta Yield SA, which was finally bought by Masdar.
The deal was reported earlier by Spanish newspaper Expansion. Spokespeople for CTG and Qualitas Energy declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. Representatives for Northleaf didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comments outside business hours.
About 70% of the Mula project’s production is covered by a 10-year power-purchase agreement signed last year with Energias de Portugal SA, the people said.
CTG already owns a 20% stake in Energias de Portugal, as well as 1.3-gigawatt renewable portfolio in Spain, where it’s snapped up about 500 megawatts of assets from X-Elio and a 619-megawatt portfolio from Nexwell Power, among other deals.
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