The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced on Thursday that it has played a key role in Europe's first residential solar securitisation, a EUR 240 million (USD 253 million) deal by German solar solutions provider Enpal. The transaction is supported by a portfolio of 8,500 residential solar system loans in Germany.
The EIB acted as an anchor investor by contributing EUR 50 million to the senior tranches of the asset-backed securities (ABS) deal, while its subsidiary, the European Investment Fund (EIF), provided an additional EUR 50 million guarantee. This collaboration helped Enpal attract private investors on the capital markets, contributing to the development of a European green securitisation market and improving access to renewable energy for private households.
Solar ABS transactions have been common in the US but are a relatively new concept in Europe, the EIB noted.
“Having the EIB and EIF on board is of tremendous value in marketing this first-of-its-kind deal in Europe. It is a strong signal to the market, underlining the quality of this innovative financial instrument and our assets,” said Viktor Wingert, co-founder and chief investment officer of Enpal. “We are very proud of the result and hope that, together with the EIB-Group, we have paved the way for our entire industry to boost the adoption of renewable energy in European households.”
Enpal's recent announcement about the securitisation highlighted that the main challenge has been volume aggregation. “The main obstacle for this asset class so far has been the aggregation of sufficient volume, although demand from investors has existed for a long time,” said Gregor Burkart, head of Enpal's refinancing division.
