Photon Energy, a solar project developer, secured €15 million (~$16.24 million) senior secured loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the development of 29 MW of solar projects portfolio in Romania. The portfolio consists of six solar projects.
As part of the project, EBRD will also support the Company in the expansion of demand response services, capacity market bonds, and the research and development CapEx of Lerta S.A. Lerta is a Poland-based virtual power plant (VPP) company which aggregates and manages distributed energy resources. Lerta’s proprietary AI software platform, Lerta Energy Intelligence, allows it to forecast and optimize the output of renewable energy projects and the load of industrial clients based on current prices and grid needs.
Photon acquired Lerta in 2022, and the integration of Lerta into Photon provided them with energy trading licenses in six countries. The EBRD’s loan is enabled by a guarantee from the European Union (EU) under its InvestEU Program.
“The signing of this financing agreement confirms that our integrated business model based on the ability to develop, engineer, construct, finance, and operate PV installations, as well as monetize the generated electricity, has been successfully deployed in the Romanian market. Our decision to commit to the construction of additional PV power plants with a total capacity of 29 MWp and sell electricity into the market represents very strong confidence in the Romanian energy sector, as does the project financing for our projects provided by EBRD,” commented Georg Hotar, CEO of Photon Energy Group.
Photon Energy is stated to be developing utility-scale solar PV projects with a combined capacity of over 1.2 GW in Australia and its key CEE markets, including over 210 MW in Romania.
According to Mercom’s Q1 2024 Solar Funding and M&A report, large-scale project funding announced in Q1 2024 came to $13 billion in 62 deals, a decrease of 24% QoQ compared to $17.1 billion in 60 deals in Q4 2023.
BrightNight, a renewable energy power producer, and its joint venture partner Cordelio Power, an independent renewable power producer that develops, owns, and manages renewable power facilities across Canada and the U.S., recently secured a $414 million construction credit facility for the development of a 300 MW Box Canyon utility-scale solar project in Pinal County, Arizona. The construction of the solar project began in December 2023 and is expected to start operations in 1H 2025. Zions Bancorporation served as the Administrative Agent and Coordinating Lead Arranger.
