Macquarie, BRUC in €90m Japan solar acquisition

Macquarie Capital and BRUC Capital have agreed to buy a pipeline of solar projects under development in Japan from IBC Solar for €90 million. 

The project pipeline, to be developed over the next three years, comprises 27 projects with a combined capacity of 37MW. IBC develops power assets with a capacity of up to 5MW.

The first two projects included in the transaction are a 1.6MW plant in Toyama and a 0.5MW plant in Gifu, while another two solar plants in Saitama and Ibaraki with a total capacity of 3.5MW will start construction next month. 

The transaction is BRUC Capital’s first investment and includes preferential rights for the Spanish firm and Macquarie to acquire IBC’s broader pipeline of solar projects in Japan, which could generate up to a combined 165MW once complete. 

Macquarie declined to disclose the size of its stake in the investment. BRUC Capital couldn’t be reached for comment before press time. 

“The agreement is a considerable step for BRUC Management and its investment focus in the renewable energy sector on a global scale,” said Juan Béjar, president of BRUC, in a statement. Established earlier this year by BRUC Management, BRUC Capital is backed by George Soros and invests in power projects in Spain and abroad, mainly in OECD countries. 

Macquarie and its affiliates have invested or arranged €6.9 billion of capital into renewable projects globally since 2010. In 2013, Macquarie formed a joint venture with Tokyo-based Maeda Corporation to invest in renewable power generation projects and other infrastructure sectors in Japan. Primarily focused on solar, the JV aimed to develop a 300MW, JPY100 billion ($996 million; €885 million) pipeline within the first three years of the launch. 

Japan is the world’s third-largest solar power market, according to Macquarie and BRUC Capital. Its total solar capacity at the end of 2015 reached 34GW, accounting for 3.5 percent of the country’s annual power demand.