BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 16. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has finalized a €97 million finance agreement with Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) and Libeccio S.r.l., a special purpose vehicle owned by Fabbrica Energie Rinnovabili Alternative S.r.l. (FERA) and Byom S.r.l., TurkicWorld reports via EIB.
The funds will be used to develop a new wind farm in Sicily, which is expected to meet the energy needs of over 56,000 Italian households, supporting the goals of the REPowerEU initiative and the broader European Green Deal.
The Vento di Vino 2 wind farm, set to begin operations by 2026, will feature an installed capacity of 44.8 MW and will be located in Mazara del Vallo, Trapani. The financing package will also facilitate the refinancing of Libeccio’s existing Vento di Vino 1 wind farm, which has a capacity of 24 MW and is also situated in Mazara del Vallo.
This green loan financing, structured on a project finance basis, includes €42 million from the EIB and €55 million from Natixis CIB. The project is aligned with the European Green Deal and REPowerEU’s decarbonisation objectives, for which the EIB plans to allocate an additional €45 billion by 2027. The initiative is projected to create over 270 jobs during its implementation phase, providing significant economic benefits to Sicily.
The project involves both a brownfield component—the existing Vento di Vino 1 wind farm—and a greenfield component, Vento di Vino 2, which will benefit from 20-year contracts for difference under the Renewable Energy Sources decree. The financing arrangement includes residual merchant risk exposure and revenue from the contract for difference.
The main advisors on the operation were Dentons (for EIB and Natixis CIB legal aspects), BonelliErede (EIB special counsel), Legance – Avvocati Associati (Libeccio legal aspects), EOS (technical aspects), Marsh (insurance), Deloitte (tax and model auditor), and Arcus Financial Advisors (Libeccio financial advisor).
