The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has opened an investigation into an attempted fraud involving solar PV plants in Slovenia.
Although the investigation is still ongoing, the allegations relate to an attempted fraud involving €340,000 (US$352,000) in European Union (EU) funds.
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Two companies allegedly aimed to obtain the funds to co-finance small-scale solar PV plants under a public call by the Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure financed by the EU’s Cohesion Fund.
Both companies presented separate applications for what seemed the same project but presented them as different ones, in order to allegedly circumvent the requirement to obtain a building permit.
Furthermore, the solar PV plant were intended to be built on agricultural land, despite the prohibition to develop PV projects on that type of land and in a protected heritage area which requires cultural conservation consent that was not obtained.
The investigation also suggests that the suspects deliberately failed to disclose critical facts to the managing authority.
The EPPO is an independent entity from the European Union responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.
It said local police had carried out house searches on 7 and 8 January, but stressed the investigation was ongoing.
This is not the first time a European entity has launched an investigation into the development of a solar PV project. Last year, the European Commission launched two investigations in Romania into the involvement of Chinese consortia in bidding applications for PV projects in the country.
More than a month after the investigation was launched, Chinese manufacturer LONGi, which was among the companies involved in the investigation, withdrew from the public procurement process for a Romanian PV project. The other Chinese companies involved also subsequently pulled out of the projects, prompting the commission to close the investigations.
