The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a PLN 82 million (€18 million) loan to Polish solar developer Energy Solar Projekty sp.z o.o. for the construction and operation of 66 small-scale PV plants in Poland.
The deal, announced Wednesday, marks the EIB’s first loan to a company building and running PV plants in Poland.
The targeted financing is part of an EIB loan program approved in 2018 dedicated to solar energy in the country. The bank has made around €100 million in financing available under the program, which supports land-based small and medium-sized PV plants that enjoy revenue protection support against price fluctuations, awarded under Poland’s renewable energy auctions.
Each plant will have an average nominal capacity of less than or equal to 1 MW, with a total capacity of about 65.6 MW.
The project is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), part of the EIB and the European Commission’s jointly managed Investment Plan for Europe. The EIB is co-financing the venture with DNB Bank Polska, each bank providing 50% of senior debt for a total amount of PLN 164 million (€37.02 million). Energy Solar Projekty will put up some 30% of the project’s funding.
As the holding group, Energy Solar Projekty will own the overall portfolio, which will include eight project companies comprising the individual plants. The PV arrays are located in northern Poland, covering areas in the Voivodships of West Pomerania, Pomerania, Warmia-Masuria and Kuyavia-Pomerania.
Domas Kacinskas, Lords LB Asset Management board member and manager of Energy and Infrastructure SME Fund, said the EIB loan would enable the company “to build on its momentum and expand its operations as the independent provider of energy services in Poland, with a stronger emphasis on smart energy management systems and solutions for energy efficiency.”
EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska, who oversees operations in Poland, said the country’s auction system had “generated a lot of interest from domestic and international investors, as shown here by the Lithuanian company Lords LB Asset Management.”
Established in 2016, the Energy and Infrastructure SME Fund focuses on investment in renewable energy, infrastructure and public-private partnership projects in the Baltics and Poland and aims to raise up to €75 million in capital.
