EOS Investment Management has launched the second tranche of its specialist fund designed to invest in Italy’s photovoltaic power plants, Modern Investor can reveal.
The Efesto Energy fund, which is fully incorporated in Luxembourg, was originally launched by the London-based group in 2014.
This fund, which is a Specialised Investment Fund (SIF), pools together photovoltaic (PV) power plants into a single vehicle, giving international investors access to Italy’s renewable energy and solar market,
After the initial tranche was launched in 2014, the fund acquired PV plants, totalling around €60 million and total capacity of 25 MW.
Commenting on the launch, CEO of EOS IM, Ciro Mongillo, said: ‘Over the past few years, we have been approached by many international investors looking to target renewable energy but being unable to access it. Investors are seeing the attractiveness of solar energy as an asset class since it meets effective ESG criteria.’
The company said the current portfolio of solar assets stretches across eight Italian regions with PV plants and is benefiting from agreed Feed-In Tariffs, well-established grid connections, a proven average operational and financial track record of three years, as well as low on-going maintenance requirements and capex. The fund’s objective is to achieve a net IRR above 10%.
EOS IM said the Italian solar market offers a very good opportunity because the level of PV penetration is currently the world’s highest, and has increased from 6.6% in 2013.
‘Solar power in Italy has long been an attractive proposition for foreign investors attracted by the generous subsidies soaring to €6.7 billion in 2013. Such a solar-friendly investment environment pulled in more than EUR 50 billion in solar investment over the past five years, bringing some 17 GW of additional PV capacity over that period,’ the company added.
EOS IM manages closed-end alternative investment funds, structured mainly as a SICAV-SIF under Luxembourg law.