The background to the project cancellation of Universidad Santa Lucia

The university has been severely affected by the Corona crisis and cannot continue operations at the campus in Alajuela. Therefore, the solar project cannot be implemented as planned.  

Universidad Santa Lucia has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and, as a result, is unable to continue operations at the Alajuela campus. As a result, the 103 kWp solar project and the LED lighting project, both of which were funded in the spring, cannot be implemented as planned.  

Crowd investors who have invested in the projects “103 kWp solar plant – Universidad Santa Lucia” and “LED lighting – Universidad Santa Lucia” will be repaid 100% of their invested capital. In addition, they will receive the interest accrued to date as well as an early repayment penalty in accordance with the terms of the loan.    

By acting quickly and cooperating with the local partner companies, the project owner ecoligo Ltda. (100% subsidiary of ecoligo GmbH) is able to utilise the already imported components elsewhere and pay out the crowdinvestors* in full.  

The following article provides further insights and background information.  

What happened?  

The global lockdown caused by COVID-19 has affected companies around the world in a variety of ways. Universidad Santa Lucia has also been greatly affected by this development. The number of students dropped from 1,700 to 900, which led to a sharp drop in tuition fee revenue. As a result, the Universidad Santa Lucia was unable to continue servicing the real estate loan for the campus in Alajuela. Since the financing bank did not agree to a deferral of payment and the building was deposited as collateral for the bank, as is usual with real estate loans, the university had to transfer the property to the financing bank. The solar project and the LED project can therefore not be implemented as planned, because the Universidad Santa Lucia is no longer the owner of the building on whose roof the solar system and in which the LED lamps were to be installed.  

How will the investments be repaid?  

As the project owner and thus also the owner of the imported system components, ecoligo GmbH or its local companies (ecoligo) can react flexibly to problems with customers and use the components elsewhere for future projects, as in this case. The solar modules have already been sold to another partner with whom ecoligo will implement another solar project. ecoligo is confident that the remaining components can also be sold to local partners and used in further projects. At no time did this development have a noticeable negative impact on ecoligo or its liquidity situation, as its business model allows it to minimise risks in the projects and thus also financial losses in such a situation.  

All loans are repaid in full, including the interest accrued up to the time the contract is terminated. Crowdinvestors will receive an early repayment fee of 25% of the outstanding interest claims, but no more than 5% of the subordinated loan amount, in accordance with the loan terms.  

Payments to the crowdinvestors will be made from ecoligo’s ongoing operations. The guarantee fund of EUR 50,000 remains untouched.  

Are other projects threatened?  

As the global situation is constantly changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and some companies are affected by the crisis, ecoligo is monitoring all its projects very closely and is in constant exchange with its customers. Due to the on-site presence of ecoligo in the countries where the projects are implemented and the resulting proximity to customers and installation partners, ecoligo can react quickly to events such as this. The fact that ecoligo does not give its customers loans, but always remains the owner of the systems within the framework of a leasing or electricity sales contract, means that it can also react flexibly and use the equipment for other purposes should problems arise at a customer. Both are decisive factors in minimising risk in ecoligo’s business model (see more details in the following blog article: Clarity in unclear times – the ecoligo business model explained in detail).  

ecoligo is strongly committed to enabling companies in developing and emerging economies to become more sustainable, both financially and environmentally, and is working vigorously to support companies through these challenging times. As always, news about the projects will be communicated to the crowdinvestors in a timely and transparent manner. 

If you have any questions, please email Claudia Rothe, Project Manager for Fundraising at ecoligo GmbH, who can answer questions about the projects directly.