DRI, an Amsterdam-based renewable energy company and a subsidiary of DTEK Group, announced the acquisition of a 133 MW/532 MWh energy storage project in Trzebinia, Poland. DRI acquired 100% of the shares from Columbus Energy, a Polish renewable energy services provider.
The company acquired the rights to build the project in March 2024, with commercial operations expected to begin in January 2027. The acquisition comes with the obligation to provide energy capacity to the Polish market for 17 years starting in 2027.
DRI CEO John Stuart said: “I am pleased to take the next step on this important project for DRI and the country. Battery storage is a hugely important technology that accelerates the energy transition. Renewable energy storage can help improve grid reliability, optimize energy costs, and expand overall renewable production capacity, which is important for Poland to reach its 62 GW installed renewable energy target by 2030.”
Excluding this Polish energy storage project, DRI currently has six solar and onshore wind projects in various stages of development across Italy, Romania, and Croatia.
In June, DRI announced the acquisition of a 126 MW solar project in Văcărești, Dâmbovița County, Romania, from local developers. Construction of the Văcărești solar project is expected to begin in autumn 2024 and commence operations in autumn 2025.
According to Mercom’s 1H and Q2 2024 funding and M&A report for Energy Storage and Smart Grid, there were 14 M&A transactions involving Energy Storage companies in 1H 2024, compared to eight (8) transactions in 1H 2023.
In April this year, OX2, a solar and energy storage project developer, agreed to sell the 42.5 MW/42.5 MWh Bredhälla energy storage project in Sweden to Flower, an energy technology and energy storage solutions provider. It is located in the municipality of Uppvidinge in southern Sweden. The facility consists of batteries utilizing lithium-ion technology.
