RWE Renewables Europe & Australia and PPC Renewables have taken the final investment decision to start the construction of a new solar PV project with 450 MW DC/432 MW AC in Western Macedonia. It will come up within the boundaries of the former Amynteo open pit lignite mine.
This Orycheio Dei Amynteo Solar Plant or the Amynteo Cluster III is last of the 940 MW DC/870 MW AC Amynteo Solar Portfolio that the duo will realize through their joint venture (JV) Meton Energy.
Amynteo Cluster III is estimated to cost €255.4 million in investment, out of which €127.7 million will come from the European Union's NextGeneration funds via Greece's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
The remaining finance has been secured through a €76.6 million commercial debt financing from Alpha Bank, Eurobank and the National Bank of Greece, along with €51.1 million as equity from the shareholders.
The 3rd project on the list is scheduled to come online by the end of 2025. Power generated will be purchased under 10-year power purchase agreements (PPA) signed with PPC and RWE Supply & Trading.
Amynteo Clusters I and II, as 8 large-scale solar projects, with a combined 490 MW DC/434 MW AC capacity, are already under construction. These are expected to be connected to the grid in 2024. Greek EPC company MYTILINEOS has been contracted to build this capacity (see Europe Solar PV News Snippets).
"With our latest investment decision, we have prepared the ground for an additional 450 MW photovoltaic plant – RWE's largest solar project under construction to date," said CEO of RWE Renewables Europe & Australia, Katja Wünschel. "This underpins our strong commitment to the Greek market with nearly one gigawatt of solar capacity under construction and large-scale solar projects of similar size under development."
RWE announced its partnership with PPC in October 2021 with plans to launch up to 2 GW large-scale solar capacity via a JV with the latter adding 940 MW DC capacity (see 2 GW Solar Agreement For Greece).
Recently, PPC Renewables secured financing from Eurobank and Piraeus Bank for its 550 MW DC solar power station in Greece's lignite mining region of Western Macedonia. It will generate 1 TWh clean energy on completion as one of the largest PV stations in Europe (see Europe Solar PV News Snippets).