Renalfa IPP has secured €315 million in holdco financing from a consortium of lenders, spearheaded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), to accelerate the shift to clean energy across central and eastern Europe.
This funding will contribute to a €1.2 billion investment initiative for Renalfa’s energy portfolio, which is set to bring approximately 1.6 GW of renewable energy generation and around 3.3 GWh of co-located battery energy storage systems (BESS) into operation across countries including Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and North Macedonia.
Once implemented, the portfolio is expected to generate around 2.3 TWh of green electricity per year—sufficient to supply power to 920,000 homes. The addition of BESS will further enhance grid stability and resilience.
The financing round was led by the EBRD, which committed €100 million from its own resources and arranged an additional €100 million from commercial financiers under an A/B loan structure. This marks the first instance in which the EBRD has employed InvestEU’s first-loss guarantee to back an A/B loan. Consequently, syndicated B loan participants also benefit indirectly from the EU’s risk-sharing support extended to the EBRD.
The EU’s InvestEU program, for which the EBRD is a key implementing partner, promotes sustainable investments, innovation, and employment across the European Union. The guarantee plays a crucial role in mitigating the risks typically associated with merchant renewable energy projects and emerging storage technologies.
Additional participants in the financing consortium include the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), OTP Bank (OTP), Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), UniCredit, and Kommunalkredit.
Headquartered in Vienna, Renalfa IPP is a joint venture between Renalfa Solarpro Group and French infrastructure asset manager RGreen Invest. The company is focused on developing and operating projects involving solar, wind, and battery energy storage systems.
Renalfa’s chief executive, Ivo Prokopiev, commented, “The successful raising of growth funding is an important milestone for Renalfa IPP and for our whole group.
“It proves the competitiveness of our integrated model for developing, investing and operating large hybrid assets.
“The early implementation of long-duration co-located BESS allows Renalfa IPP to start offering green baseload products to the market in central and eastern Europe for the first time.”
Mathilde Ketoff, partner at RGreen Invest, added, “At RGreen Invest, we are incredibly proud to support this landmark financing and to deepen our partnership with Renalfa.”
Matteo Patrone, vice president of banking at the EBRD, said, “This is a landmark transaction, which will accelerate the much-needed deployment of renewable energy, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and strengthen energy security in a region still heavily dependent on carbon-intensive sources.
“We are proud to have been able to support this transaction and, leveraging an InvestEU guarantee, to mobilize private sector investors to achieve a strong regional impact.”
