Poland's PFR fund to co-finance country's first 200-MW solar-wind project

January 30 (Renewables Now) - Polish Development Fund (PFR) said one of its units will provide a PLN-90-million (USD 20.8m/EUR 19.1m) subordinated loan to Lewandpol Group, developing the first 200-MW solar and wind project in Poland.

The loan, granted to facilitate the project construction, supplements a senior financing package of PLN 776 million extended by a bank syndicate including ING, PKO BP and mBank, the fund said on Friday.

The first phase of the project in Kleczew, the central Wielkopolskie province, foresees connecting 193 MWp of photovoltaic (PV) panels and up to 19.2 MW of wind turbines to the grid in 2023, which should be enough to power some 100,000 households.

In the next stages, the power plant can be expanded to about 250 MWp in the solar part along with adding some extra wind turbines and energy storage facilities.

The farm is being built on reclaimed coal mining areas in the Konin district, which is "a symbolic and important step towards decarbonising the Polish economy and ensuring cheap and clean electricity," Lewandpol CEO Andrzej Lewandowski pointed out.

The project was prepared by E&G from the Lewandpol Group as the investor and Ergy as the project asset manager and financial advisor to the investor.

The Lewandpol Group, a leading Polish private investor in renewable energy, started its activities in the country by investing in wind farms at the development stage. Since 2014, the group has focused on mature renewable energy projects - at the ready-to-build or later stages. Lewandpol also manages the 67.5-MW Lancut Wind Farm in south-eastern Poland, which was built in 2015.

State-owned PFR is a group of development institutions providing financial and advisory support to entrepreneurs, local governments and individuals investing in the sustainable economic development of Poland.

(PLN 10 = USD 2.31/EUR 2.12)