RWE and PPC plan to build the Amynteo Cluster II, which include three new PV projects with a total capacity of 280 MW. The will complete the installations through their joint venture, Meton Energy S.A., which is 51%-owned by RWE Renewables. Construction is set to start in the fall, with commissioning scheduled for next year.
The investment has been estimated at €196 million ($214.5 million) with €98 million to come from the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund. The companies are securing about €59 million of the total in the form of commercial debt from several Greek lenders – Alpha Bank, Eurobank, and the National Bank of Greece – in addition to €39 million of shareholders’ equity.
“The financing is subject to financial close,” said the companies in a press release.
The Amynteo Cluster II will not participate in the country’s renewable energy tenders. They will be remunerated via 15-year-long power purchase agreements (PPAs) with PPC. Konstantinos Mavros, chief executive of PPC Renewables, has spoken to pv magazine in the past about plans to build subsidy-free solar farms that sell electricity to PPC via PPAs.
PPC Renewables was the first utility to start working on subsidy-free projects in Greece – a market segment that has progressed slowly. However, this trend is now shifting as several PPA-backed projects are currently underway in Greece.
There is no doubt that under Mavros' leadership, PPC Renewables is taking the lead. A few months ago, pv magazine reported that Heron, a local Greek utility, signed 10-year and 12-year PPAs with RWE and PPC's joint venture, Meton Energy. These PPAs pertain to a different portfolio of solar plants currently under construction.
RWE and PPC's plan for Greece is to develop 2 GW of solar capacity in the country's former lignite regions, such as Western Macedonia. This aligns with Greece's target to establish 3 GW of solar in mining regions.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
6 comments
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.