Catalan BNZ “proclaims” independence (in energy). And moves forward with its first solar plant in Portugal
In the energy sector, the acronym IPP has been known for a long time by those who move in the middle. Independent power producer, our independent electricity producer, designated as companies dedicated to the generation of energy not integrated in the large electric groups already on the market. And it is precisely as a producer the newly created BNZ, based in Barcelona, wants to be independent. It will build a portfolio of solar plants in Southern Europe. And Portugal is part of the package.
Jordi Francesch is part of the still smaller team at BNZ, a company that, according to the manager, “will work independently from Glennmont Partners”, a fund manager that Francesch also integrates, also with renewable energy assets. But what then is the purpose of the BNZ? According to the company’s administrator, the idea is to develop, build and operate a portfolio of solar centers in Southern Europe, which, a few years later, can be sold as a block.
In Portugal, BNZ has in hand a portfolio of 400 megawatts (MW) solar projects that obtained their licensing even before the auctions that the Portuguese Government held in 2019 and 2020. The first of these is a 50 MW power plant to be installed in northern region of the country. “We want to start building in the third quarter of this year and complete it in the second quarter of 2023,” explained to Express French Jordan.
The 400 MW under development in Portugal, which require investments of over 220 million euros, are part of a global portfolio of 1.5 gigawatts (GW) that BNZ has in Southern Europe (namely in Spain and Italy, in addition to the Portuguese). With regard to Portugal, Jordi Francesch told the Express that the projects range from 40 to 95 MW of capacity and are concentrated in the Center and North regions of the country.
BNZ’s goal is to have all its projects in Portugal built by 2024. According to Jordi Francesch, 35% of projects for the Portuguese market already have approval from the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which is one of the fundamental steps for large-scale solar plants can enter the construction phase.
The challenge in Portugal is to find industrial counterparties that feel the need for a long-term contract.
Jordi Francesch, administrator of the BNZ
All the central tariffs for the photovoltaic energy that the company is developing in the national territory advance in the general regime of production, that is, without guaranteeing the sale of electricity to the grid, but Jordi Francesch indicates that one of the objectives of the BNZ is to look for potential borrowers, Contracts acquisition of energy (CAE or in English, PPA, of power purchase contracts), which guarantees the long-term flow of solar electricity.
BNZ’s strategy is to try to “aggregate PPAs for Spain and Spain”, treating the Italian market separately from Portugal.
Jordi Francesch admits that the pandemic and the crisis in the global logistics chain have penalized the progress of some projects. “We had some logistical issues on a project in Italy, but things are getting back to normal”, assures the manager. “This first quarter of 2022 is much better. The cost of freight is known and the price of the equipment as well”, he observes.
With the support of institutional investors from the European Union, United States of America, Japan, South Korea, among other geographies, BNZ will focus on the construction of photovoltaic plants, but will also analyze the possibility of building with investments in batteries. , to have a maximum storage capacity of 200 MW next to some of the solar plants.
The structure of the BNZ one office is already centered in Barcelona, the one in Madrid. In Portugal, the company intends to “find industrial counterparties that feel the need to establish a long-term contract”.
With regard to the Google market of very PPA companies in the last five years, the manager emphasizes. Today “many companies” will also send signals of interest in these long-term energy purchase contracts. “The market’s appetite for these contracts is enormous,” adds Jordi Francesch. Getting a Portuguese industry to sign these PPAs nationally, with little or no tradition in the market, is the next big challenge.