The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending up to €50m to Tenevo Solar Technologies EAD to build and operate the 238MW Tenevo solar farm in south-east Bulgaria.
A parallel financing facility of €53m will be provided by Raiffeisen Bank International, making the total finance package €103m.
The fully merchant solar farm is expected to generate more than 300GWh of electricity a year and save 250,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
The project will be supported by first loss risk cover deployed under the EBRD’s InvestEU Framework for Sustainable Transition, which aims to foster sustainable investment and convergence to EU norms, and will contribute to the country’s green energy transition.
This is the first use of the InvestEU guarantee by the EBRD in Bulgaria, said the EBRD.
The Tenevo plant will add 238MW of solar generation capacity to the Bulgarian national energy system, with a long-term plan to add on a 250MW capacity of behind-the-meter energy storage.
The EBRD said the scheme is an important project to advance towards Bulgaria’s ambitious net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050 and reduce reliance on coal generation, which still dominates in the power system.
The array will be the first renewable energy plant over 100MW that will sell all its output in the market without a support scheme or a corporate power purchase agreement in Bulgaria, added the bank.
The project is designated as Gender SMART as the sponsors and the company committed to sign the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles to promote gender equality across the male-dominated energy sector in the country.
It will also strengthen the private sector presence in the energy sector in Bulgaria, added the EBRD.
Tenevo Solar Technologies EAD is a joint stock company incorporated in Bulgaria to construct and operate this plant.
It is equally owned by Renalfa IPP, an Austrian joint venture between Renalfa Solarpro Group and RGreen Invest, and Eurowind Energy.
“We are delighted to finance this sizeable merchant solar project, which highlights the Bank’s continued support for Bulgaria’s green transition, in today’s context of concerns over regional energy security in light of Russia’s war on Ukraine as well as to support Bulgaria’s ambitious renewables and decarbonisation targets,” said Head of Energy Europe in the EBRD’s Sustainable Infrastructure Group Grzegorz Zielinski.
Tenevo Solar Technologies EAD executive director for Kalina Pelovska added: “We are excited to partner with the EBRD and Raiffeisen Bank International on this ground-breaking project, which reflects our shared vision for a more sustainable future in Bulgaria.
“This collaboration represents a key landmark for the renewable energy investment community in the region, and we look forward to working together to bring our plans to reality.”