The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has committed €100 million (US$110.2 million) in financing to Lithuanian renewable power developer Green Genius, to expand its work in Europe until 2029.
The EBRD is jointly owned by 73 countries, as well as the EU and European Investment Bank (EIB), and while neither the bank nor Green Genius specified which projects would receive funding in particular, they noted that, as part of the deal, the EBRD will become a minority shareholder in the company.
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The deal is the largest single company equity commitment made by the EBRD in the Baltic States, and Green Genius noted that the money would be used to support both the acquisition and development of projects in the region. This year, the company has already started construction at the 121MW Jekabpils solar project in Latvia, the country’s largest stand-alone solar facility, and secured a loan from Citadele Bank to support its solar-plus-storage initiatives in Lithuania.
Since last September, Green Genius has completed a number of financing rounds for projects in Eastern Europe, including a 198.8MW portfolio in the Baltics and a 500MW portfolio in Romania.
“This partnership reflects Green Genius’ long-term strategy to further build its development portfolio and transition into an independent power producer,” said Green Genius CEO Ruslan Sklepovič. “This institutional partner will enable us to invest more actively in new renewable energy projects.”
The EBRD’s latest round of financing will go towards helping Green Genius commission a renewable power pipeline that includes 2.9GW of solar projects. Of this pipeline, 203MW of capacity are currently under construction, in Lithuania and Poland, alongside sizable pipelines of 689MW of capacity in Italy, and 529MW of capacity in Lithuania, which are in the development stage.
Earlier this year, PV Tech Power profiled Europe’s myriad of solar industries, and noted that 2023 saw five countries add 1GW or more new capacity to their national energy mixes; three of those five were in Eastern Europe, with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania all leading the region in capacity additions.
PV Tech publisher Solar Media will be organising the fourth edition of Large Scale Solar Central and Eastern Europe in Warsaw, Poland 26-27 November 2024. The event will focus on Eastern Europe with a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders responsible for the build out of solar and storage projects in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Hungary. For more information visit the event website.
