Norton Rose Fulbright advises on international project financing for Bruck geothermal power plant

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright advised an international banking consortium on the project financing of the Bruck geothermal power plant by Silenos Energy Geothermie Garching a.d.Alz, a subsidiary of STRABAG SE and RAG Austria AG.

Located in Bavaria, Germany, the Bruck geothermal project contains an approximately 4,31 MW power plant for the renewable energy supply of around 14,000 households in the region, with additionally-planned heat extraction for the municipality of Garching an der Alz. Under the terms of the agreement, Société Générale, Luxembourg, and Erste Bank Group, Vienna, are financing around 80 per cent of the investment sum of about EUR 80 million through a loan with a term of up to 20 years.

Dirk Trautmann, Norton Rose Fulbright’s Munich-based project finance partner and Europe head of infrastructure who led the deal team, commented:

"Having advised on a number of geothermal projects in recent years, we are particularly proud to bring this first project financing in Germany for more than a decade to a successful close. This project is already well advanced: In 2018 and 2019, two deep wells were successfully finalized and tested, and completion and commissioning is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.

“Despite challenges both underground and above surface, geothermal projects remain an increasingly important and economically attractive pillar of the energy market because they provide a combination of heat and electricity as well as a stable energy source not dependent on weather conditions.”

The Munich-based Norton Rose Fulbright team also included partner and Europe head of energy Klaus Bader, associates Oliver Paasch, Matthias Zimmermann, Sebastian Köster, Oliver Henningsmeier and Sebastian Eisenhut, with assistance from Hamburg counsel Felix Dinger and Veit Sahlfeld.