Marguerite II, a pan-European infrastructure fund in Luxembourg, said it has acquired full ownership of Red de Calor de Cuenca (RCC), a project company which will build and run a a greenfield heating network in Cuenca, a Spanish city in the Castilla La Mancha region.
The value of the stake was not disclosed. RCC was recently established as a special purpose company by Recursos de la Biomasa, S.L., known as Rebi, to develop and implement the Cuenca project and has now been purchased by Marguerite.
The deal is the first under a framework agreement signed between Marguerite, and Rebi for developing up to five urban heating networks in Spain. Marguerite, established in 2010, is an alternative investment fund manager in Luxembourg which manages three funds. The Marguerite Fund is a 710 million euro infrastructure fund invested across 20 assets.
Thermal plant
The Cuenca project includes a biomass-fired thermal plant with an initial capacity of 28 MW and a thermosolar plant. Combined, the plants will deliver up to 100 GWh of heat annually to approximately 7,500 local households and public buildings through a system of pipes spanning 26 km under the city streets.
The pipe network construction has already started, and the first customers will start receiving heat produced by the project this coming winter.
Sustainable infrastructure
“The project will allow for an efficient supply of green heat, contribute to climate change mitigation and support the local economy,” said Pilar Gomez, Partner at Marguerite, in a statement. “It perfectly aligns with our strategy of investing in sustainable infrastructure projects that contribute to reducing CO 2 emissions and promoting the circular economy.”
Rebi will be responsible for the project’s delivery. It is Spain’s largest and most experienced player in biomass district heating networks and is fully owned by Amatex, whose activities range from the purchase of forests to the supply of wood and biomass to the processing of the raw material for transformation into final products.
In this transaction, Marguerite obtained legal advice from Pérez-Llorca, technical advice from Advisian, commercial advice from Afry, and tax and financial support by KPMG.
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