November 17 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Croatian lender Privredna Banka Zagreb (PBZ) said on Friday they have lent 10.6 million euro ($11.5 million) each to Croatian renewable energy developer Encro to finance the construction of 30 MW of new solar generation capacity in the country.
It is the EBRD’s first solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Croatia, as well as the bank’s first project with the European Commission-run InvestEU programme designed to support sustainable economy projects, the bank said in a press release.
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The EBRD has provided the loan to three special purpose vehicles (SPVs) incorporated in Croatia for the purpose of constructing and operating three solar PV plants. The three SPVs are part of the Encro Group.
The electricity produced by the solar plants will be sold directly on the market but will also allow the client to enter into corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) at the time of its choosing, the EBRD said.
"The project will have a novel structure, relying on the wholesale market to offtake the produced electricity, and therefore not benefiting from any support schemes for renewables. It will thus demonstrate a market based alternative for the renewable energy sector development in Croatia," the EBRD noted. It added that the higher risks associated with novel financing structures will be mitigated by a first-loss guarantee by the InvestEU programme.
“We are particularly satisfied with the fact that this is fully merchant project, demonstrating innovative ways of financing renewable projects, not only in Croatia, but also across the broader region," Iljko Curic, CEO and owner of Encro, said in the press release.
The Encro's project, Solis, consists of three solar power plants: Pelegrin, Donji Humac and Gradic, with the first two located on the island of Brac, PBZ management board member Vedrana Jelusic Kasic said on her Linkedin profile on Friday. This way the project supports the energy transition plan developed under the European Commission’s initiative for clean energy for the EU islands, creating greater energy resilience at Brac.
The third solar power plant, Gradic, will be built in Benkovac municipality of Zadar county, southern Croatia.
($ = 0.920 euro)