EBRD lends PLN 144 million for new Polish wind farm

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending PLN 144 million (€30 million equivalent) to support the development, construction and operation of a new 56MW wind farm at Zelechowo in Poland. The project will be co-financed with a commercial lender, mBank S.A.

The 16-turbine wind farm is expected to save 95,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

The borrower is indirectly owned by Energix Renewables Energy Ltd, a leading Israeli independent power producer focussing on onshore wind and solar PV in Israel, Poland and the USA with an existing relationship with the EBRD. Having entered the Polish market in 2012, it is expected to reach 300 MW installed capacity in Poland by the end of 2022.

The drive towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is the dominant theme in the European energy sector, enshrined in the 2019 EU Clean Energy for all Europeans package and the EU Green Deal. This requires massive investment in renewable energy in the coming decade.

The EBRD, a leader in climate finance, aims to align all its operations with the goals of the Paris Agreement by the end of this year and make at least half its financing green by 2025.

To date, the EBRD has invested €11.4 billion in 469 projects in Poland, where its focus is on promoting the low carbon economy, enhancing the private sector’s role in the economy and assisting in the development of a sustainable financial system and capital markets.