A loan agreement to finance the construction of 816 megawatt photovoltaic parks in Western Macedonia, Thessaly, and Central Greece was signed tonight by the management of DEPA Commercial and the European Investment Bank in Athens at an event attended by the Ministers of National Economy and Finance, Costis Hatzidakis and and Environment, Energy, Theodoros Skylakakis.

EIB financing will reach up to €390 million, and batteries will be added to some of the new plants.

In his welcome address, the Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, referred to a positive development that will help DEPA Emporia in its new plans. Minister of Environment and Energy Theo Skylakakis stressed the importance of vertical integration and the balanced development of technologies (photovoltaic, wind, and storage) in order for the electricity system to be efficient and not create issues.

The CEO of DEPA Commercial, Konstantinos Xifaras, said that the first tenders for the photovoltaic parks will be announced in the next ten days, while he noted that investments in renewable sources combined with participation in the gas-fired power plant in Alexandroupolis lead to the full vertical integration of the company.

European Investment Bank Vice President Yannis Tsakiris underlined the bank's firm commitment to renewable energy and added that the bank has granted loans amounting to €4.3 billion. In recent years, in Greece, there have been investments in electricity interconnection of islands, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.

DEPA's President Yannis Papadopoulos spoke of a decisive step in the transformation of the company into a vertically integrated energy company.