Joint venture Ameresco Sunel Energy SA has started constructing solar developer Lighsource bp’s 560MW Enipeas solar PV project in Greece, the largest in its portfolio.
Ameresco Sunel Energy SA, established through a partnership between renewables developer Ameresco and EPC contractor Sunel Group in April 2023, started development on the project, which features two clusters, earlier this month.
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The Enipeas project, co-funded by the European Union via its ‘NextGenerationEU’ fund, which provides financial support for projects that contribute to a “greener, more digital and more resilient future,” is expected to be completed within 18 to 24 months.
Lightsource bp secured €315.34 million (US$337.5 million) for the project in April 2024 under the Green Transition pillar of the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF). The remaining 20% of the investment, totalling €79.82 million, will be covered by Lightsource bp’s funds.
Located in Larissa and Fthiotida, in Greece’s Thessaly region, the project features a 400MWp southern cluster in Skopia and a 160MWp northern cluster in Kalithea, where around 970,000 PV modules will be installed.
The project will connect to the grid in 2026. In its first year of operation, it will generate 0.90TWh of power.
Natalia Paraskevopoulou, Lightsource bp’s head of the country for Greece, said the project would “contribute substantially” to Greece’s decarbonisation and provide “affordable, secure and cleaner energy” for the population.
“The Enipeas project will contribute to boosting the local economy. The presence of workers and contractors will drive demand for housing, groceries, and other local services, generating additional income for local businesses and entrepreneurs,” Paraskevopoulou added.
Ameresco Sunel Energy SA stated that it is committed to supporting local communities through this project, with George Sakellaris, CEO at Ameresco, having stated that it intends to harness “local talent as much as possible” to support the project’s development.
As such, the joint venture has hired local contractors and service providers, provided accommodations in Skopia Village, and plans to increase local employment by hiring more workers for various construction and infrastructure-related jobs.
Greek PV sector benefits from European Investment Bank
In other news, Greece is set to benefit from financing provided by the European Investment Bank. The organisation revealed yesterday (25 July) that it has lent Greek energy company DEPA Commercial €390 million to support the development of 800MW of solar PV projects across the country.
EIB said it will provide funding to cover 75% of the cost of solar sites in western Macedonia, Thessaly, and central Greece. The total expected cost is €521 million with these projects to be developed in communities where the per-capita income is below the EU average, which the EIB refers to as “cohesion” regions.
In a guest blog for PV Tech earlier this month, Stelios Psomas, policy advisor at HELAPCO said that Greece would need to embrace energy storage capacity to unlock its solar PV potential.
