Photon Energy has completed and grid-connected a photovoltaic power plant with a capacity of 1.3 MWp near the municipality of Tolna. This latest addition expands the Company’s portfolio of proprietary power plants in Hungary to a total of 62, with a combined capacity of 50.4 MWp. Globally, the Company now owns and operates 87 power plants with a combined capacity of 90.6 MWp.
The new power plant represents the first Hungarian utility-scale PV power plant in Photon Energy Group’s IPP portfolio that the Company will operate without a support scheme. The total annual production of the power plant is expected to be around 2.1 GWh, which corresponds to expected annual revenues of EUR 420,000 based on current forward prices for electricity baseload in Hungary in 2022. Given the power plant’s electricity production profile, there is potential for even higher revenues in 2022. The total investment into the development and construction of the power plant was EUR 1.0 million and represents the first investment from the proceeds of Photon Energy Group’s 6.50% Green EUR Bond 2021/2027 with a placed volume of EUR 55 million in November 2021.
“Recent market developments and the outlook for European energy prices vindicates our market approach”, said Georg Hotar, CEO of Photon Energy Group. “The economics of our first European merchant power plant highlights the value embedded in our dynamically growing project development pipeline across the CEE region. We are highly motivated to crystalize that value by meeting our goal of adding over 500 MWp of PV generation capacity before the end of 2024”, he added.
The new power plant extends over 2.2 hectares and uses bi-facial PV modules mounted on single-axis trackers. Connected to the grid of E.ON Dél-dunántúli Áramhálózati Zrt., the installation is expected to generate around 2.1 GWh of clean electricity per year.
The electricity will be sold on the national electricity market on a merchant basis. This means no power purchase agreements (PPAs) have been entered into by the Company. However, the PPAs may play a role in the plant’s future revenue management strategy, alongside other hedging options.