The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and financial firm Raiffeisen Bank International have provided a €110 million (US$122 million) financing package to solar developer Nofar Energy to build and operate 315MW of solar PV in Romania.
Consisting of two projects, the Iepuresti (169MW) and Ghimpati (146MW) plants are located in the south-eastern region of Muntenia. EPC contractor CJR Renewables secured the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) and operations and maintenance (O&M) contracts of the projects earlier this year.
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The loan from the EBRD and Raiffeisen is evenly split, with €55 million from the EBRD and €55 million from Raiffeisen, split into two tranches of €25 million and €30 million. The first will be partially covered by a first loss guarantee provided by the European Union under the InvestEU programme.
Although the technology used for the solar panels of both projects has not been disclosed, it is likely that they will be modules from Chinese solar manufacturer LONGi. Nofar Energy Romania and LONGi signed a supply agreement at the beginning of the year for 576MW of LONGi’s bifacial Hi-MO 7 modules. A timeline for the completion of the projects has not been disclosed either.
Grzegorz Zielinski, EBRD head of energy Europe, said: “We are excited to support Nofar Energy’s renewable energy investments in Romania, with the support of the InvestEU guarantee. These solar power plants will increase Romania’s renewable capacity, supporting the country’s ambition to add 11.9GW of new renewable capacity by 2030.”
With the funding of more than 300MW of solar PV in Romania, the EBRD continues to expand its financing of renewable energy projects in the region. Earlier this month, the bank provided financing for a 50MW solar portfolio in Bosnia and Herzegovina; while in June it formed a joint venture with German energy company Goldbeck Solar Investment to develop up to 500MW of solar PV in Ukraine.
