Dentons advises on the financing of a portfolio of UK solar PV and BESS co-located assets to be developed by Cero Generation

London-Dentons has acted as legal adviser to a consortium of leading lenders, including Rabobank, Nord/LB, Santander and ING, to reach financial close and secure a circa £200 million financing package for three initial solar PV and BESS projects in the UK, with a total installed capacity of 360MW, to be developed by Cero Generation (Cero), with further pipeline projects earmarked in the portfolio. Cero is a leading IPP, specialised in developing, constructing and operating solar energy and battery storage projects, accelerating the delivery of a net-zero future across Europe.

The financing includes a committed facility for the initial three projects, including an equity bridge loan, with an uncommitted incremental accordion facility for the future portfolio projects.

The 115MW co-located solar PV and BESS project located in Bramley (Project Bramley) is the first to come online with construction scheduled to commence in Q4 of 2025. The portfolio includes two other near-term projects with a combined capacity of 245MW of BESS and solar PV.

Dentons advised on all legal aspects of the financing, including reporting on Project Bramley's project rights to assess whether the project was ready-to-build (covering property, planning and grid due diligence), and conducting a comprehensive risk assessment of the robustness of the relevant project documents from a project financing perspective, liaising with Cero, its development partners and lenders in the process.

The Dentons team was co-led by London partners Mark Cheney, Lucille De Silva and Graham Richmond, and supported by Thomas Collier, Daniel Mayhew, Alexandra Velizarova, Joanna Traynor, Adjoa Kwakwa, Olivia McGrath, Ejiro Agbaire, Adam Brown, Madeleine Smallwood, Gavin Patridge and Melanie Blanchard.

Mark Cheney commented: "Reaching financial close is a proud moment for us. It represents a significant milestone which is the result of months of hard work. It is the result of true partnership and collaboration between our clients, Cero, various external stakeholders and our cross-functional teams at Dentons."

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