Europe Solar PV News Snippets

Sonnedix raises green loan for Italy projects; PPC Renewables secures finance for 550 MW in Greece; Centrica's 1st solar PPA in Estonia; Gonvarri Solar Steel secures Repsol contract in Spain; Meyer Burger modules on Otovo marketplace; Aiko modules for Czech Republic & Slovakia. 

Sonnedix bags green loan: Renewable energy producer Sonnedix has secured a €260 million green loan for its projects in Italy. It comprises greenfield project finance for the construction of 2 PV projects in Sicily and Sardinia with a total capacity of around 200 MW, as well as an acquisition finance line of an operating asset. It raised the loan from a pool of banks including CaixaBank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank – Milan Branch, among others. Sonnedix counts its Italian project pipeline as exceeding 1.5 GW. 

Financing for 550 MW PV in Greece: One of the largest solar PV plants in Europe with 550 MW installed capacity in Greece has raised a €294.4 million long-term loan with Eurobank as the organizer and Eurobank and Piraeus Bank as the co-organizers. PPC Renewables, part of Greece's PPC Group, raised the finance through its subsidiary Phoebe Energieaki Monoprosopi for the project with a total budget of €368 million. It is scheduled to come up on the site of a former lignite mine in Macedonia municipality. On completion in 2025, it will account for nearly 2.5% of the national electricity mix. PPC Renewables will build the project using close to 950,000 bifacial panels with single-axis trackers. The project forms a part of the National Recovery and Resilience Fund of Greece. 

Centrica's Estonia solar deal: Centrica plc, part of the UK's Centrica Group, has signed up for solar power from 32 MW capacity in Estonia under a power purchase agreement (PPA) with renewable energy provider Enery. Centrica's trading and optimization arm Centrica Energy will source this capacity from Rummu and Jersey solar parks that together generate close to 39 GWh annually. Located in the Harju county, these solar plants were constructed by Enery in 2023. This is Centrica Energy's maiden PPA in Estonia, and will come into effect from March 2024. 

220 MW trackers for Spanish project: Spanish solar trackers and fixed structures supplier Gonvarri Solar Steel has announced its 1st supply agreement with Repsol for 220 MW capacity. It will supply 4,278 of its TracSmarT + 1V solar trackers (single-row and dual-row) under the contract. Repsol will deploy the same for its 3 PV plants with individual capacities of 120 MW, 50 MW and 50 MW, respectively. 

Meyer Burger modules on Otovo: Meyer Burger Technology AG has entered into a collaboration with Norway's Otovo, the online marketplace for distributed solar energy installations. Under the partnership, Otovo will list Meyer Burger modules on its website as a European, sustainable module alternative for the rooftop solar segment. The offering is currently available in Germany, to be later expanded to other markets in Europe. The joint sales process will be fully digitalized, right from entering the address on the Meyer Burger website and locating the building via Google Maps, to preparing the offer and selecting the installer, through to the digital signing of the offer. Otovo will provide on-site implementation and customer invoicing. 

Meyer Burger CEO Gunter Erfurt said, "With this partnership, we are actively preparing ourselves for a resilience scenario in Germany. Purchasing a solar system with Meyer Burger modules at fair prices will be as easy as ordering everyday items online."  

Aiko Solar's European module deal: Chinese solar PV manufacturer Aiko Solar has announced a cooperation agreement for 100 MW of its all back contact (ABC) modules for the Czech Republic and Slovakia markets. It signed the agreement with Czech solar PV distributor SOLSOL that also supplies inverters, mounting brackets and energy storage products. The Chinese company has been making inroads into the European market with its ABC modules. In January 2024, it signed a 200 MW agreement with the Polish PV distributor INSELL (see China Solar PV News Snippets). Aiko's ABC modules with their industry-leading module efficiency of 24% are on top of the TaiyangNews Top Solar Modules Listing for almost a year now (see Top Solar Modules Listing—January 2024).