Polish coal power provider secures 15-year PPA for 75 MW solar plant

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Poland's second-largest coal power provider, Zespół Elektrowni Pątnów-Adamów-Konin SA (ZE PAK SA), has secured a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 70 MW solar plant it is planning to build in Brudzew, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland.

The solar park will sell power to Polkomtel Sp. z o.o., which is the network operator of the Polish free-to-air television channel Polsat Group. The owner of the telecommunication company, Polish entrepreneur Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, is also the second-largest shareholder of ZE PAK SA.

The deal is the country's second PPA linked to a solar project after that announced by German developer Baywa re in January.

ZE PAK SA added it also secured a 175 million PNL ($45.5 million) loan for the project from Polish lenders PKO BP SA, Bank Pekao SA, and mBank SA. “The signing of the loan agreement for the Brudzew Farm confirms the interest of the banking sector for the green transformation path chosen by ZE PAK SA,” said the company's board president, Piotr Woźny.

ZE PAK SA's largest shareholder is the Polish government with a 50% stake. ZE PAK has an 8.5% share of the Polish power market, according to its website.

In November 2018, the company had announced a plan to build 70 MW of PV capacity at a depleted area of the extensive Adamów brown coal mine, in the center of Poland, in Turek. The solar project, which has not been built to date, is likely intended to provide the group with the capacity it lost in 2018, when the Adamow power station, a five-unit coal-fired plant with a 600 MW capacity at the mine, was closed.

The use of large scale PV plants among Polish coal providers is gaining traction in Poland. State-owned utility Polska Grupa Energetyczna in 2019 signed a letter of intent with silver and copper producer KGHM Polska Miedź SA to deploy 500 MW of solar generation capacity on the miner’s sites. Energy company Tauron Polska Energia SA also announced a plan to install ground-mounted PV at its disused sites. Electricity provider Zespół Elektrowni Pątnów-Adamów-Konin SA said it would deploy a large scale PV plant at a depleted area of the extensive Adamów brown coal mine in Turek county.

 

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