Rezolv Energy and Low Carbon, through their project subsidiary First Looks Solutions S.R.L., have obtained loan facilities of up to 291 million euros to support the construction of Phase 1 of the ‘VIFOR’ wind farm, a major project located in Romania’s Buzău county.
The financing has received overwhelming support from the financial community: the consortium of 8 banks financing the project is led by Erste Group, UniCredit Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Intesa Sanpaolo Group, OTP Bank, Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Garanti BBVA Romania.
This is the first funding for Rezolv Energy, a vehicle launched 18 months ago by Actis, a leading global investor in sustainable infrastructure, to build a multi-gigawatt portfolio of onshore wind and solar farms in Central and Southeast Europe.
Phase 1 of the VIFOR project foresees the installation of 192 MW of capacity, financially supported by 5 major Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Construction is scheduled to be completed within 18 months. The wind farm is expected to become operational before the end of 2025. An expansion to 461 MW is planned to take place in Phase 2.
Once fully operational, the VIFOR wind farm will be one of the largest onshore wind farms in Europe. Close to the Carpathian Mountains and benefiting from exceptional wind yields, the project will generate enough clean energy to power more than 270,000 homes and avoid producing around 540,000 tonnes of CO2e annually. The project will support Romania in achieving its climate goals and will play an important role in the region’s energy transition.
In addition to the environmental benefits, the VIFOR project will create local jobs during both the construction and operation of the park, bring economic benefits to the local community and support community initiatives in Buzău County, with the aim of producing a positive and lasting impact for local residents.
“We are delighted to secure this support from such a prestigious group of supranational financial partners, regional commercial lenders and local banks,” said Alastair Hammond, CEO of Rezolv Energy, “Their support is recognition of the vital role of large-scale projects like VIFOR in the energy transition in South East Europe. It is also a response to our sustainability strategy, which is designed to set a standard for responsible development of renewable energy projects in this region that will inspire others to follow. This has been an important factor for all banks.”
Rezolv already has more than 2 GW of clean energy in the pipeline for construction in South East Europe. In addition to the VIFOR wind farm, its projects include Dama Solar in western Romania, which, with a capacity of 1,044 MW, will be the largest solar farm in Europe once built, the 600 MW Danube East and West wind farms in Constanta county and St. George, a 229 MW solar project in north-eastern Bulgaria.