Global renewable energy developer, Mainstream Renewable Power, has successfully raised €40 million in loan notes in what was one of Ireland's largest private fundraisings of 2011.

The three year loan notes were raised by Dolmen Stockbrokers from Irish high-net-worth individuals and institutions. It is expected that the formal closing of this €40mln will complete in the coming days.

Mainstream is also finalising an equity fundraising, €13 million of which has already been invested by Irish high-net-worth individuals through NCB Stockbrokers.

There is expected to be further investment from institutional investors which when combined with the above will provide the business with an additional €100 million in capital to fully fund the current business plan.

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Commenting on the fundraising, Mainstream’s Chief Executive Eddie O'Connor said: "2011 was an outstanding year for Mainstream. We won 238MW of wind and solar contracts in South Africa; we procured wind turbines for our first wind farms in Chile and Ireland which we plan to build this year and we successfully sold the first two projects in our massive offshore UK wind zone in what was the largest deal of its kind last year. Despite economic conditions Mainstream is bucking the trend; we have aggressive growth plans for this year onwards and these fundraisings underpin the level of confidence in our business."

The funds are being used to finance the company’s international expansion:

South Africa: In December 2011, Mainstream won 238MW of contracts in the South African government’s first procurement round for renewable energy. The contracts comprise a 138MW wind farm and two 50MW solar photovoltaic farms which will reach financial close later this year.

Chile: In December 2011 Mainstream purchased 23 Goldwind GW87 1.5 MW wind turbines ahead of constructing its first wind farm in Chile in Q2 2012.

Ireland: Mainstream plans to build two onshore wind farms in Ireland this year.

Offshore: In December 2011 the company sold a portion of the mega-scale Hornsea offshore wind farm in the UK, successfully proving its offshore business model. Mainstream is also developing two further large-scale offshore projects in Scotland and Germany.

(CD/GK)