U.K.-based Solar Century Holdings Ltd. secured €54.8 million in bank debt to enable the construction of two utility-scale solar plants in Spain with a combined generating capacity of 500 MWp.

The new debt facilities comprise a €27.7 million trade loan from NatWest and a €27.1 million guarantees line from HSBC UK. Both sources of funding are backed by UK Export Finance, the U.K.'s export credit agency, which will allow Solarcentury to access the working capital and bond support needed to fulfill its contracts.

The larger of the two projects, the 300-MWp Talayuela solar farm, will be fully operational in the second half of 2020. Once online, it will be capable of producing enough power for 150,000 homes every year, according to a Jan. 7 release.

Meanwhile, the 200-MWp Cabrera solar project, comprising four 50-MWp plants, is expected to produce enough electricity to cover demand from 105,000 households in the region. It will be connected to the grid by September.

In 2019, Solarcentury won 57 MWp of solar power capacity in a solar auction in France, while announcing a renewed strategic focus on U.K. subsidy-free solar development and the planned expansion of its operations into the Italian solar market.

The company sold a majority stake in four solar projects with a total capacity of 200 MW in the Seville region of Spain in April 2019.