17 December, 2024

DRI signs €24.7 million finance agreement with Austria’s Kommunalkredit for a 60MW greenfield solar park in Romania

Glodeni II is DRI’s second solar park in Romania, with construction managed by DRI’s in-house team.

DRI, the EU renewables arm of DTEK, has signed a new €24.7 million non-recourse financing agreement with Kommunalkredit Austria AG (”Kommunalkredit”) that supports construction and operations of its 60MWp solar park in Glodeni, Mureș County, Romania (“Glodeni II”).

Proceeds from the financing will be used to fund a portion of required capital expenditures, along with refundable VAT. Glodeni II is DRI’s second solar park in Romania, with construction managed by DRI’s in-house team.

Once fully commissioned in early-2025, Glodeni II will have the capacity to power 22,4001 homes with clean energy, and it will reduce 21,8002 tonnes of CO2 annually. The park will be located alongside DRI’s operational 53MW solar park in the same region, Glodeni I. The two projects combined will make it one of the largest solar parks in the country.

This is DRI’s second financing with Kommunalkredit; in 2023 the bank provided DRI with a €55 million finance package for the construction of a 60MW wind farm in Ruginoasa, Iași County, Romania. The wind power plant was the first to be built in the country in a decade and became operational in December 2023.

DRI CEO, John Stuart, said: “We are grateful to have a trusted financial partner in Kommunalkredit that joins us in the mission to accelerate the energy transition across Europe and specifically in Romania, where DRI will look to deliver 1GW of renewables and battery storage by 2030. Having the support of Kommunalkredit on a second project is a testament to DRI’s hard work and prior success, with DRI swiftly becoming one of the biggest RES players in the country.”

Volker Kruse, Head of Banking, Kommunalkredit, added: “We are delighted to strengthen our partnership with DRI on yet another significant renewable energy project in Romania. Supporting the development of green infrastructure aligns perfectly with our mission to drive sustainable growth and accelerate the energy transition across Europe. Glodeni II represents a key step toward Romania’s clean energy goals, and we are proud to contribute to a project that will deliver meaningful environmental and economic benefits to the region.”

In addition to Ruginoasa, Glodeni I and Glodeni II, DRI will start the construction of a fourth project in Romania in the new year, a 126MWp solar park near Bucharest.

DRI aims to have a portfolio of 5GW of renewable energy and battery storage projects in operation by 2030 across its countries of operations; Croatia, Italy, Poland and Romania and is well on track with a development pipeline of 1.3GW as of December 2024.

 

 

 

The photo shows the construction progress at Glodeni II, with over 60% of the modules installed and the medium voltage stations already in place.

* based on Statista, Electricity consumption for households in Romania 2017-2022, by consumption bands
** based on Statista, Carbon intensity of the power sector in the European Union in 2021