Renewables investor Aquila European Renewables Income Fund has acquired a 100MWp solar PV portfolio currently in construction in Spain, doubling its portfolio’s current solar PV capacity.

Aquila has signed a sale and purchase agreement, valued at around €90 million (US$99.13 million), with additional earn-out payments for a portfolio of two assets in the southern region of Andalusia.

The earn-out payments are to be valued at up to 50% of the uplift of any power purchase agreement signed against a reference price agreed between the two parties.

The Greco project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, once it receives authorisation from local authorities, and the company estimated its operating life to be 30 years.

Ian Nolan, chairman at Aquila, said: “We are pleased to be able to secure another large scale, high quality solar PV project, which dramatically increases our allocation to solar system, in-line with our portfolio targets.”

With the acquisition of the project, Aquila will double its solar panel capacity located in Portugal and Spain to 200MWp, and will increase its renewables portfolio by a third to a total of 432MW.

Moreover, it is currently seeking to secure a power purchase agreement for the Greco project before it is completed.

In 2020, Aquila entered the solar PV market in Portugal with its first acquisition of projects with a 20MWp capacity and last year acquired a 50% in a 60MWp plant in the Alentejo region.