Independent power producer (IPP) Renalfa has obtained €315m ($369.8m) from a consortium led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The financing is aimed at advancing the green energy transition in Central and Eastern Europe.

It will bolster Renalfa’s €1.2bn investment programme, which is set to bring 1.6GW of generation assets and 3.3 gigawatt hours (GWh) of co-located battery energy storage systems (BESS) online across Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and North Macedonia.

These initiatives will provide 2.3 terawatt hours (TWh) of green electricity every year, sufficient to supply energy to 920,000 households.

The integration of BESS will address the intermittency issues commonly associated with renewable energy, enhancing the stability of the electrical grid.

The consortium’s efforts were led by the EBRD, which contributed €100m directly and facilitated an additional €100m from commercial banks through an A/B loan structure.

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This is the first instance of the EBRD utilising the InvestEU first loss guarantee in a hybrid model, enabling both the EBRD and the banks participating in the A/B loan structure to benefit from the EU’s risk-sharing mechanism.

The move aims to mitigate market risks linked to merchant renewable power generation and cutting-edge storage technologies.

Renalfa IPP CEO ‍Ivo Prokopiev stated: “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 market in CEE for the first time. We are proud, together with our partners from RGREEN INVEST, to be at the forefront of energy transition not only in CEE, but in the whole EU.”  

The InvestEU programme is expected to catalyse more than €372bn in additional investments from 2021 to 2027.

Between 2022 and 2027, the EBRD plans to leverage InvestEU guarantees worth €777m to fund investments of up to €2.7bn in qualified sectors.

The EBRD will also facilitate the development of a training programme focused on BESS-related skills, targeting both current employees and prospective professionals in the region.

Renalfa is set to collaborate with local universities to launch a campaign encouraging women to pursue careers in the energy sector.

The lending consortium includes other financial institutions Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, OTP Bank, Nova Ljubljanska Banka, UniCredit and Kommunalkredit.

Kommunalkredit served as the sole financial advisor to Renalfa IPP and acted as joint global coordinator alongside UniCredit.

Legal counsel for the lenders was provided by A&O Shearman, while Ashurst represented Renalfa IPP.

EBRD Banking vice-president Matteo Patrone stated: “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 mobilise private sector investors to achieve a strong regional impact.”     

In April 2025, the EBRD disclosed plans to allocate €1bn in aid by 2025 to support Ukraine’s war-affected energy sector and bolster the nation’s energy resilience.

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