R.Power, a company currently developing a Polish portfolio of photovoltaic (PV) projects with a capacity of more than 4 GWp, has announced that it has signed a co-operation agreement with one of the key developers of PV farms in Germany. After Portugal, Spain, and Italy, this is another country where R.Power is planning its dynamic growth.
The co-operation between the companies consists in the development of 80 MWp PV farm projects located in various regions of the country. Greenfield investments will be made both according to auction requirements based on the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and without auction support, based on long-term power purchase agreements (PPA).
“We plan to consistently strengthen our position in Europe. In order to become one of the largest PV companies on our continent, we need to expand into more countries. Germany, as a key market in the region, is the next step for us. We want to commission projects of a capacity of at least 100 MWp here annually. In the nearest future, we plan to sign further agreements with German developers, as well as to independently search for land for future PV farms” says Przemek Pieta, co-founder and CEO of R.Power.
The company has already secured funds for the acquisition of the projects. At the beginning of June, it established a programme to issue green bonds with a total nominal value of up to PLN 1 billion (€225 million). They meet the criteria for green bonds according to the Green Bond Principles (GBP) developed by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). Bonds with a total nominal value of PLN 150 million (€34 million) were issued under the first series. Some of them will be used for the company’s development in Germany.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative economic consequences it had, the solar power sector in Germany is experiencing a significant growth. Last year, the installed capacity increased by nearly 5 GWp, accounting for nearly 25% of the total growth in Europe.
According to the Renewable Energy Sources Act passed in 2021, Germany's long-term goal is for all energy produced or consumed in Germany to be produced in a greenhouse gas-neutral manner by 2050, and for the share of renewable energy in gross energy consumption to reach 65% by 2030. Solar energy is one of the key technologies to help achieve the targets, and according to plans, the country's installed PV capacity should increase from around 52 GW today to 100 GW by 2030.
