EIB invests in Europe’s first home solar ABS deal by Germany’s Enpal

The European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Thursday it has supported Europe’s first residential solar securitisation, a EUR-240-million (USD 253m) deal by German solar solutions installer Enpal, with EUR 100 million.

The asset-backed-securities (ABS) transaction is underpinned by a portfolio of 8,500 residential solar system loans in Germany.

The EIB acted as an anchor investor, directly investing EUR 50 million in part of the senior tranches, while its subsidiary, the European Investment Fund (EIF), provided an embedded guarantee of a further EUR 50 million. The EIB Group in this way helped Enpal attract private investors on the capital market, supporting the establishment of a European green securitisation market and making renewable energy more accessible to private households.

Solar ABS transactions are common in the US, but not yet in Europe, the bank 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. 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," said Viktor Wingert, co-founder and chief investment officer of Enpal.

In Enpal’s recent announcement about pricing the securitisation, Gregor Burkart, head of Enpal’s refinancing division, said that the main barrier has been volume. “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.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.053)

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