Bank consortium backs Cero’s Spanish projects: Macquarie-backed Green Investment Group’s (GIG) European solar energy platform Cero Generation has reached financial close on a solar project portfolio of 5 assets with a combined 244.7 MW capacity in Spain. Banco Sabadell, Rabobank and ING together financed the deal. The 5 utility scale projects are contracted with an international technology company under a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA). Spain’s Elmya Greece’s Metlen Energy & Metals are on board as the EPC contractors and China’s LONGi as the module supplier. Once online, these facilities will deliver over 480 GWh of renewable energy/year. Cero’s counts a portfolio of 26 GW across Europe with over 600 MW in operation or under construction.
Financing for 70 MW in Poland: Denmark-based renewables developer European Energy A/S has announced securing €33.3 million financing from Polish lender mBank for 70 MW PV capacity in Poland. While the Łobez PV Farm will have 16 MW capacity when installed, Dębnica Kaszubska will have 54.2 MW capacity. Located in Pomerania and West Pomerania regions, these 2 facilities are currently under construction with commissioning scheduled for Q4 2024. On completion, this 70 MW capacity will generate around 67 GWh annually. European Energy considers Poland a significant market for the company as its development pipeline here total around 5 GW.
87.5 MW solar plant in Montenegro: Agenos Energy has secured grid connection permit for its 87.5 MW Vracenovici Solar Power Plant in Montenegro with the country’s electricity transmission operator CGES. Located close to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the solar project is scheduled to start commercial operations by 2028.
50 MW solar plant in Bosnia & Herzegovina: The largest public electricity utility in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine (EPBiH) is planning a 50 MW solar power plant on a former coal ash landfill site. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing it with €25.1 million loan for the project. The bank’s involvement has helped mobilize a parallel loan of €15 million. The facility will be constructed as 2 adjacent solar power plants in the municipality of Gračanica. It is part of a broader cooperation between the EBRD and EPBiH to facilitate the latter’s just transition to renewable energy. As part of this cooperation, the bank will help the utility assess several 2050 decarbonization scenarios and their feasibility.
1 GW new project capacity across Europe: European renewable energy company Eurowind Energy has secured permits for 29 new energy projects totaling 932 MW capacity in fiscal year 2023-24. All of these projects are located across Eurowind’s core markets, with most of them having a guaranteed grid connection. These comprise 19 solar and 10 wind parks, including a 237 MW solar power station currently under construction in Bulgaria. Out of these 11 are located in Poland, 5 in Germany, 3 in Romania, and 2 in Slovakia. On its home turf, it has secured 2 permits including one in which existing wind turbines will be supplemented with solar cells in a hybrid park. The Danish company’s current operational wind, solar and hybrid parks capacity totals over 1.3 GW, while it touts a development portfolio of 53 GW, including Power-to-X and battery projects.
€24.4 million for Romanian solar plant: INVL Renewable Energy Fund I, a fund of alternative asset manager INVL Asset Management, that invests in renewable energy projects has won €24.4 million funding for a 60 MW solar power plant in Romania. The financing has come from the EBRD and the Energy Infrastructure Investment Fund of France’s Eiffel Investment Group. Both have granted €12.2 million each. The 60 MW solar project will be located in Dolj County of Romania. The fund is also developing 32 MW solar PV capacity in Poland.
Innovation Norway funds Ocean Sun: Floating solar PV technology company Ocean Sun has announced an Innovation Norway funding. This will help it advance multiple key areas of its technology, including freshwater collection system. Ocean Sun explained that its circular floating solar unit of 70 m diameter will collect between 8,400 and 12,000 tons of fresh water annually while generating between 1.0 GWh to 1.5 GWh of clean electricity annually. This feature, it explained, is a game-changing opportunity as it can help island communities tackle the challenges of limited space for renewable energy generation and scarce freshwater resources.