French semiconductor manufacturer Soitec has issued a South African Rand denominated bond worth $111m to help finance the construction of a 44MW concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar plant in Touwsrivier, South Africa. According to Soitec's media release, it was the first publically listed project bond ever issued for a CPV facility. Rating from Moody's was Baa2.za; Standard Bank acted as lead manager. The bonds were placed with South African institutional investors, pension funds and asset managers.
The Touwsrivier facility will apparently be the largest CPV plant in the Western world. It's scheduled for completion by June 2014.
