Eurobank Bank and the Greek State have proceeded to the signing of a financing agreement for Enipesa, a subsidiary of Lightsource BP, in the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0.". Eurobank is exclusively arranging and is the sole financing bank of the company for the completion of the construction of one of the largest photovoltaic (PV) plants in Europe, with a nominal capacity of 560 MWp and a total budget of €395.15 million.
UK-based Lightsource bp has been active in the renewable energy sector since 2010 and is a leading company in the development and management of solar energy projects, having developed projects with an installed capacity of more than 8.4GW in 19 countries.
For Lightsource BP, the project is of key importance both in Europe and in Greece, where it entered in 2020 and has already developed a portfolio of over 1 GW of solar energy and storage projects. For Eurobank, the financing of such an important project underlines the Bank's practical commitment to support the country's energy transition and decarbonisation.
Upon completion of the project, expected in 2026, and connection to the grid, the production of the new PV plant is expected to reach 0.90 TWh in the first year of operation, providing energy corresponding to the needs of ~225,000 households and covering, almost, 2.% of domestic production, while the operation of the plant has been estimated to prevent the emission of 379 kt of CO2 per year.
An event was held at Eurobank Headquarters in the presence of the Consul General and Deputy Head of Mission of the British Embassy in Greece, Susan Geary, the Director of the Special Coordination Service of the Recovery Fund, Orestis Kavalakis, the Group Co-CEO of Lightsource, Nick Boyle, the Legal Representative of Enipeas S.A. E. and Director of Lightsource bp in Greece, Natalia Paraskevopoulou and the Deputy CEO of Eurobank, Konstantinos Vasileiou.
The investment project, with a total budget of €395.15 million, is part of the Green Transition pillar of the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RDF). The financing of the project includes a long-term loan, totalling €315.34 million, with loan capital of €170 million from the resources of the CDF, and financing of €145.34 million from Eurobank. The company's own funds will cover the remaining 20% of the investment project, which is worth €79.82 million.
The new PV project will be developed in the regional units (P.E.) of Larissa and Fthiotida and will consist of two different sub-areas (southern cluster 400MWp and northern cluster 160MWp) with a total area of approximately 6,926 hectares, where 968,630 PV panels will be installed.
The Commander of the Special Coordination Service of the Recovery Fund, Orestis Kavalakis, pointed out: "The loan agreement marks the implementation of a key investment in the Greek region, which also attracts capital from abroad and focuses on renewable energy sources with an impact at national and European level. The loan programme of the Recovery Fund - Greece 2.0 supports large and small-scale investments in clean energy and green transition, which are crucial for the country's energy autonomy, sustainability and environmental protection".
Lightsource BP's Co-CEO, Nick Boyle, said: "We would like to thank the Greek government and Eurobank for their support in this tremendous achievement by Lightsource bp. It has been more than three years since we started our operations in Greece and the efforts of our local team have already delivered tangible results. The agreement enables our 560 MWp project to bring a significant investment to Greece and with it clean and secure energy».
