Alternus Energy, an independent renewable power producer, has signed an agreement to acquire 184 MW of solar PV projects in Poland.
The projects range from 1 – 10 MW in size, and the majority have Government-backed offtake contracts already in place.
The projects are being acquired from a local developer, Projekt Solartechnik (PST), a FAMUR and TDJ groups company. The projects are expected to achieve a commercial operation date (COD) by mid-2023, with at least 45 MW reaching COD by November 30, 2022.
PST will perform the initial operation and maintenance (O&M) activities post initial operation for an agreed minimum period post-installation, with Uper Energy, Alternus Energy’s O&M subsidiary taking over after that under long-term service contracts.
Completing the contracts will see Alternus invest over PLN 750 million (~$169.1 million) for newly constructed PV solar projects in Poland, to be funded from debt facilities, and support Poland’s national decarbonization goals.
Alternus Polish operational portfolio currently totals 88.6 MW, including the 65 MW Witnica project in northwest Poland and the recent acquisition of 24 MW of operational projects acquired from another local developer partner.
Last year, Alternus Energy Group acquired a 64.6 MW Polish solar project from BayWa r.e., a renewable energy projects developer.
In April 2022, Alternus Energy agreed to a definitive agreement to acquire up to 228 MW solar projects in Spain. The projects are in mid-stage development and are anticipated to reach RTB status by Q2 and Q3 of 2023, subject to permitting and suitable grid connection conditions.
“This partnership with Projekt Solartechnik enables Alternus to further expand our presence in the Polish market immediately and over time. Alternus has been and remains very active in Poland, with a target to achieve over 1GW of operational PV solar there in the next few years. This transaction further underpins our commitment to Poland and brings our footprint to over 25% of this goal,” said Vincent Browne, Chairman, and CEO of Alternus Energy.
Large-scale solar project acquisition activity remained strong, with over 23 GW of solar projects acquired in Q1 2022 compared to 13.1 GW in Q4 2021, according to Mercom’s Q1 2022 solar funding and M&A report.
