Ignitis Renewables to finance solar farms under development in Latvia with a EUR 77.5 million loan from Swedbank

Swedbank Lithuania and Swedbank Latvia provided a joint loan of EUR 77.5 million to an international green energy company Ignitis Renewables to finance the development of solar farms in Latvia. The financing will be used to complete the Stelpe and Vārme solar farms currently under development, whose total installed capacity will reach 239 megawatts (MW) and commercial operation date is estimated for this year. The banks granted funds in equal amounts.

“We are at the forefront of the green transition in the region and strive to have a future where electricity is generated from renewable energy sources only. The Stelpe and Vārme solar farms will become significant milestones in the implementation of our green generation capacity development strategy. After the start of commercial operations, the solar farms will significantly increase the local generation of green energy in the region. We are grateful to Swedbank for supporting the implementation our renewable energy projects, which makes a significant contribution their success,” notes Jonas Rimavičius, CFO at Ignitis Group.

“The agreement with Ignitis Group transcends boarders and marks yet another milestone of our successful cooperation as well as Swedbank’s commitment to finance the green transition. Financing green energy projects in the region is one of our priorities in our aim to strengthen the energy sector's resilience and reduce emissions in our region. This agreement boosts our rapidly growing Green Loan Portfolio of EUR 1.45 billion, which includes 800 MW of installed renewables capacity in total,” says Ignas Mačeika, Head of Corporate Customer Division and Member of the Board at Swedbank Lithuania.

Ignitis Renewables is currently developing a 94 MW Vārme solar farm in Kuldīga municipality and a 145 MW Stelpe solar farm in Bauska municipality, Bārbele parish, which comprises two separate stages. The total installed capacity of the solar farms will reach up to 239 MW. It is enough to power around 96 thousand households in Latvia.

The investments in the projects, including the construction and project acquisition costs, are estimated to reach around EUR 178 million.

Ignitis Group has financing agreements with Swedbank for Vilnius Combined Heat and Power Plant, a wind farm in Jurbarkas and other projects.