Europe Solar PV News Snippets

Lightsource bp selling agrivoltaic projects in Italy; Google signs up for new wind and solar projects in Europe; Jyske Bank lends to Better Energy in Denmark; Groupe Pochet signs up for solar with ABO Wind for French factory; EBRD to lend €300 million for renewable energy in Greece. 

Lightsource bp divests stake in Italian projects: British solar developer Lightsource bp has signed a binding agreement to sell its 6 agrivoltaic projects in Italy to independent asset manager EOS Investment Management Group (EOS IM). The 294 MW portfolio is in the final stages of authorization process, with construction expected to begin within next 12 months. The 6 sites will enable various agricultural activities as the production of honey, cultivation of olives, pistachios and orange trees along with other crops. These can also enable sheep grazing, according to Lightsource. The company says this transaction allows it to reinvest and further extend its presence in the Italian market. It has so far developed over 1 GW of solar assets in Italy that's currently in advanced authorization phase. It also admitted to having accumulated a substantial pipeline of energy storage projects as well. 

Over 700 MW more for Google: Technology giant Google has announced signing new power purchase agreements (PPA) for new wind and solar projects with more than 700 MW combined capacity. While most of these relate to wind energy procurement in the Netherlands, Italy, and Belgium including for offshore wind, it will procure 106 MW of solar power in Poland. The 2 new solar agreements in Poland have been signed with GoldenPeaks Capital, it stated without sharing any other information. Google said, "This will add clean energy to the grid that our projections indicate will help our offices and cloud region in Poland achieve more than 90% carbon free energy in 2025." These PPAs are part of the company's 2030 goal to run all its data centers and office campuses on 24×7 carbon-free energy on every grid where it operates. Back in 2021, Eiffel Investment Group announced a €35 million bridge facility for GoldenPeaks for the early construction works of its Alpha and Charlie solar projects in Poland, with a total capacity of 150 MW to 200 MW (see ReneSola Signs JV Agreement With Eiffel Investment). 

Financing for Better Energy: Denmark-based solar energy company Better Energy has raised 3-digit DKK million amount from Jyske Bank to finance its renewable energy projects in the country. With the loan financing, it has built 3 solar parks in Denmark with a total capacity of around 200 MW. Part of a partnership between Better Energy and Industriens Pension, all the 3 PV facilities are now connected to the grid. These projects are expected to deliver an annual production of close to 210,000 MWh. 

Solar power for Groupe Pochet: French supplier of glass packaging to luxury brands in perfume, makeup and skincare, Groupe Pochet will offtake solar power from a 20 MW project in France. The company has signed a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) with Germany's ABO Wind for whom this is its largest PV project in France. Groupe Pochet said the CPPA will support the solar plant that will help power the 1st French electric oven for luxury bottling of the company. The 20-year agreement will kick into effect when the project is online in early 2025, after the electric oven becomes operational at 2024-end. The French company says it plans to sign more such contracts within and outside of France to source locally produced green energy for its decarbonization efforts, and to source it at a fixed price. 

EBRD finance for Greece: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a framework to lend up to €300 million to finance renewable energy investments in Greece. It will be available for investments in electricity generation from renewable energy sources and in electricity distribution and transmission capacity to improve efficiency, reduce losses and enable the integration of renewables into the grid. Beneficiary technologies will be solar, wind, biomass and geothermal, among others.