Alternus Energy PLC, the independent power producer, has marked its entry into the Polish market with the acquisition of the 64.6 megawatt peak (MWp) Witnica solar park, which sits close to the German border between Poznan and Berlin.
Notably, the purchase, from energy company BayWa r.e. doubles Alternus' installed power capacity and the park is Poland’s first subsidy-free utility-scale solar installation and has a corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) in place.
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“With this acquisition, Alternus increases its power generation capacity by 100% and now operates a diverse portfolio of 24 solar PV parks across five European countries with a combined capacity of 130 MWp” said Alternus chief financial officer Joseph Duey in a statement.
CEO Vincent Browne added: "We have plans for further expansion within the country over the next 12 months and hope to share updates on that shortly.
"It was a pleasure working with the BayWa r.e. team on this project and we look forward to future successful engagement with them across key markets.”
BayWa r.e. will continue to supply operations and maintenance services at the solar park, where a 10-year virtual PPA has been secured with Górazdze Cement S.A., the Polish subsidiary of the buildings materials titan Heidelberg Cement Group.
Alternus owns and operates a diverse portfolio of utility scale solar PV parks on long-term government contracts and/or power purchase agreements with investment grade off-takers. Having started in 2016 with two parks and 6 MWp capacity, its current operational portfolio consists of 24 parks across Poland, Romania, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany totaling 130 MWp
Alternus aims to own and operate over 3.5 gigawatts (GWs) of solar parks by the end of 2025 and to become one of the largest pan-European IPPs by the end of the decade.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com