Greek company Public Power Corporation (PPC) has issued a €500m sustainability-linked bond, targets for which will be met with new renewable energy developments.
PPC has committed to cut CO2 emissions by 57% by the end of 2023, reducing annual CO2 emissions from 23.15 million tonnes in 2019 to 10 million tonnes in 2023.
This target is expected to be met primarily by decommissioning all lignite plants by 2023 and replacing them with renewable energy capacity in a significantly accelerated programme that will add 1.3GW of mainly solar and wind power to PPC’s portfolio from 0.2GW currently.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting PPC by investing €25.5m in the bond issue.
In March, the EBRD participated to the tune of €50m in PPC’s €650m sustainability-linked bond issue.
PPC used the proceeds of the issue to refinance its existing debt.
This was the first sustainability-linked bond in the regions where the EBRD invests.