RLPC-Acciona seeking 600 mln euro loan for solar project

LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Spain's Acciona (ANA.MC) is looking for a project finance loan of more than 600 million euros ($766.6 million) to back a solar thermal project in southern Spain, bankers said on Friday.

Financing proposals were due this week, but many proposals are expected to be delayed, a banker said, as banks become increasingly cautious about committing capital over year-end balance sheet constraints.

Maturities in the solar renewable energy market are in the 20-year range, which many banks will find difficult to commit to amid high funding costs.

Bankers estimate margins on a facility with that maturity profile will range from 190 to 210 basis points and more, and almost double the typical average margins for the sector last year.

The average margin in 2007 for Spanish renewable solar energy loans with long term maturity profiles of around 20 years was of 109.29 basis points, according to data from Reuters Loan Pricing Corp.

"We don't care if we lose a mandate, but although it's a great project we cannot afford to finance it at prices lower than our own funding costs," one banker said.

Given the circumstances, bankers said the loan is likely to club, with around 12 banks expected to commit 50 million euros each.

Acciona said in May this year it was looking to build two solar thermal energy plants in Cordoba, in southern Spain, with a combined production capacity of 100 megawatts.

Solar thermal technology, known as concentrated solar power (CSP), uses lenses or mirrors to concentrate light, which is then used as a heat source to produce power.

There is currently a 27 euro cents per kilowatt per hour tariff subsidy for solar thermal energy until production in Spain reaches a 500 megawatt ceiling, one banker said.

Acciona could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Zaida Espana; Editing by Rupert Winchester)