Estonian independent power producer (IPP) Sunly has secured €300 million (US$334 million) in debt financing to accelerate the construction of a 1.3GW renewables portfolio across the Baltics and Poland.
The IPP aims to build hybrid parks combining solar PV, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and wind at a single connection point to provide a direct line to consumers, which would improve energy production stability and reduce grid connectivity chargers.
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One of the first projects to benefit from this financing is a 244MW solar PV plant in Estonia, which is intended as a hybrid park with expansion plans to include onshore wind and BESS in the future.
The company expects to start construction imminently in Latvia on four solar PV plants, with a combined capacity of 553MW, and these projects will also be designed to be hybridised with wind, storage or a combination of both.
Despite land scarcity in the Baltics, the region offers a faster development of solar PV projects (Premium access) compared with southern countries such as Spain or Italy.
The rest of the 1.3GW renewables portfolio also includes utility-scale hybrid solar PV plants in Lithuania, while in Poland both small and large-scale solar parks are expected to be commissioned by the end of 2026.
Sunly’s total financing reaches €765 million
The hybridisation of renewable energy capacity in Poland has become much simpler since last October thanks to new legislation that allows different renewable assets to share one grid connection.
Financing firms Rivage Investment, via REDI HR2 and the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) through its Green Credit Fund I, as well as Norway’s pension fund Kommunal Landspensjonskasse, provided the financing.
This latest financing raises Sunly’s total investment raised to €765 million, according to the company. Earlier this year the IPP secured €65.9 million towards the development and construction of 98MW of solar PV in Poland.
Moreover, nearly two years ago, the company raised €200 million to build and expand its portfolio of renewables projects in the Baltics and Poland, with the participation of French asset manager Mirova and becoming its largest investor at the time.
Priit Lepasepp, co-founder and CEO of Sunly, said: “This investment enables us to improve our infrastructure with new grid connections and solar parks in the Baltics, which will support our onshore wind and storage pipeline expansion.
“To help reduce energy costs, our focus will be on two key areas: building a hybrid pipeline with storage capabilities and advancing the electrification of heating and mobility systems, thereby diminishing our reliance on imported fossil fuels and optimising the use of local renewable resources”.
Currently, the IPP has an operational portfolio of 227MW of solar PV and storage assets, with a further 373MW of solar PV under construction and 14.2GW of renewables in development.
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.
