Renewable power producer Elawan Energy is looking to sell a 400 MW portfolio of solar PV projects in Spain, said two sources familiar with the matter.

The Madrid-based company owned by Japanese investor Orix Corporation is working with Lazard as advisor on the deal, which is code-named Project Castilla, the sources said.

The assets on the block include four plants of various size under development in the central regions of Castile and Leon, Aragon and Valencia, according to one of the sources.

Elawan and Lazard initially approached potential buyers for the portfolio earlier this year, seeking to sell the projects as soon as they reached ready-to-build status, but are now relaunching the process, offering to sell the plants after they start operating, likely in early 2025, this source added.

The sale comes after Tokyo-listed Orix said in summer that it was considering selling some of Elawan’s assets in Spain or abroad, without revealing further details.

Orix bought 80% of Elawan for about JPY 100bn (EUR 770m at the time) in 2021 and acquired the remaining 20% earlier this year.

Elawan had about 1.77 GW of wind and solar plants in operation in early November, according to Orix’s latest quarterly report, up from about 1.36 GW in May. It owns plants in Spain, France, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, the US, Brazil and Mexico.

Its pipeline includes 11 GW of projects under development, and the company hopes to have 3 GW in operation by 2025.

Last year it raised EUR 250m of debt to finance a 440 MW portfolio of nine solar PV projects in Spain, followed shortly after by another 36 MW financing. It also moved into Italy for the first time, buying two solar projects totalling 71.6 MW, and set up a partnership with BW Ideol to target offshore wind projects in Iberia.

The sale of the solar portfolio comes at a busy time for renewables M&A in Spain, with Infralogic’s database counting 43 live transactions worth an estimated USD 9bn.

Fellow renewables IPP Q Energy, which is owned by Korea’s Hanwha Solutions, recently launched the sale of a 600 MW solar and wind project portfolio as it seeks to conclude the sale of a further 700 MW. Its peer Grenergy Renovables is also selling a 1.1 GW portfolio in phases.

Larger players are also selling assets. Enel-owned utility Endesa is in the final round of selling a 49% stake in a 2 GW renewable portfolio and is looking to launch a second deal of similar size, while Portuguese energy group Galp is selling a minority stake in 1.6 GW of solar assets.

Beside Elawan, Orix also owns a 70% stake in London-based infrastructure fund manager Gravis Capital Management. It has stakes in three major airports and in water utilities in Japan, as well as stakes in half a dozen renewable energy companies around the world.