Galp to buy ACS solar assets for €2.2 billion – enough to rebuild Real Madrid

• Portuguese gas company Galp Energía says it will become “the largest solar energy company in the Iberian peninsula”. The agreement includes operating PV plants with an installed generation capacity of 900 MW plus a further 2.9 GW under development.

Portuguese gas company Galp Energía will pay €2.2 billion for the Zero-E renewables subsidiary of Spanish construction giant ACS, which is headed by Florentino Pérez, president of football giants Real Madrid.

The transaction should be completed this month, according to an update made to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission yesterday by the civil engineer’s ACS Services, Communications and Energy subsidiary.

The deal will see the fossil fuel business acquire a 2.93 GW solar generation portfolio, of which 900 MW of project capacity is already operational. Zero-E secured 1.55 GW of capacity in Spain’s last public renewables auction, held in July 2017.

Spanish sale

With the acquisition encompassing only ACS’ Spanish assets, the infrastructure company, which has developed 29% of its renewables projects in North America and 26% in Latin America, insisted it will stay committed to clean energy development.

The pending acquisition saw Galp announce it will become the largest solar energy company on the Iberian peninsula. “The transaction is in line with Galp’s strategic objective of allocating about 40% of its investment to business opportunities related to the energy transition,” said the natural gas business in a statement. “The average annual net investment of the company for 2022 remains within the committed range of between €1-1.2 billion per year.”

Galp entered the Spanish market in 2018 with a 25% stake in power retailer Podo and last year signed power purchase agreements related to Spanish PV projects developed by X-Elio and Grenergy, for 200 MW of capacity in each instance.