Mainstream Renewable Power, a renewable energy company with worldwide operations, has signed with Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG) for a corporate facility. The deal is worth 60 million Euro ($76.7 million), with Macquarie providing an initial corporate facility worth 40 million Euro ($51.1 million) and another 20 million ($25.6 million) coming in after specific conditions are fulfilled. The deal awaits Mainstream shareholder approval.
Mainstream has managed to raise 16.8 million Euro ($21.5 million) in the present round of fundraising, and the company hopes to raise more in order to expand its operations. A target is the Energy Bridge, which is expected to export 5,000 megawatts of wind power from Ireland to the UK beginning in 2017.
Another 325 megawatts is being developed via wind and solar facilities construction in Ireland, S. Africa, Chile, and Canada. Last year, Mainstream won three government contracts in S. Africa, and construction will begin shortly on a 138MW wind farm and two 50MW solar photovoltaic plants in the Eastern and Northern Capes.
Over in Chile, Mainstream will begin construction soon on the 33MW Negrete Cuel Wind Farm. And in Canada, the Old Man wind farm, which will produce 46MW, will undergo construction in the near future.
Mainstream is also targeting Scotland (a 450-megawatt offshore wind farm) and England and Germany (two large-scale offshore wind facilities).
From the Sacramento Bee:
Commenting on the deal, Mainstream’s Chief Executive Eddie O’Connor said: “Mainstream is delighted to be partnering with leading renewable energy investor Macquarie at such an exciting time for our company. We have been through a very comprehensive due diligence process and Macquarie’s investment is a clear testament to the confidence they have in our future growth.”
He continued: “After going through our initial development stage, Mainstream is now embarking on a very strong growth trajectory. We have a team of over 150 specialised staff actively developing more than 50 large scale wind and solar projects across four continents. We have started construction on over 325MW of wind and solar projects in four countries and this investment means we will be bringing more projects into construction as well as expanding our global project development portfolio.”
Mainstream was founded by Eddie O’Connor based on the sale of Airtricity to E-ON (PINK: EONGY) and Scottish and Southern Energy for 1.8 billion Euro ($2.3 billion). The current project, coming after 9 months of due diligence, is the company’s single-largest tranche of capital at the Holdco level. The deal ensures that Mainstream’s total equity and corporate debt since its founding in 2008 is now over 265 million Euro, or $339 million.
