July 25 (SeeNews) - Prague-based Rezolv Energy said on Tuesday that it acquired from Bulgaria's YGY Industries the rights to develop and operate a grid-connected solar photovoltaic plant with a nameplate capacity of 229 MW in the municipality of Silistra, in northeastern Bulgaria.
The planned solar park will be Bulgaria's largest, set to generate 313 Gigawatt hours (GWh) per year or 13% of Bulgaria’s solar energy output projected for 2023, Rezolv Energy, which will also be the plant's operator, said in a press release.
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St George, as the plant will be named, will be built on an area of 165 ha on the site of the decommissioned Silistra airfield. Equipped with close to 400,000 solar panels, the PV plant is expected to be completed in early 2025 and will have a lifetime of over 30 years.
The PV plant will be connected to the main 110 kV transmission grid via two independent lines of 6 km in total. The green energy it will generate wil be sold to commercial and industrial users through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), Rezolv added.
The project will create some 500 jobs, both in assembly and for highly-skilled engineers.
"[St George] will help Bulgaria meet its renewable energy targets and contribute to its energy independence. Crucially, for the business sector, it will also enable us to provide highly competitive, subsidy-free clean power at a stable price for industrial and commercial users right across the country," Alastair Hammond, Rezolv Energy chief operating officer, said. He added that the plant will add to the 6 GW of solar power which Bulgaria is estimated to be on track to generate by 2030.
Rezolv Energy, which was launched last year by UK-based investment firm Actis, is already preparing to construct more than 2GW of clean energy in Romania, including the 1,044 MW Dama Solar project, which is expected to be Europe's largest solar plant once it goes live.
Raiffeisen Bank International was the exclusive M&A advisor to the seller, the lender told SeeNews in an emailed statement.