Ignitis Group spending US$57m to acquire Polish solar developers

Utility and renewables developer Ignitis Group is bolstering its position in Poland through the acquisitions of companies that are currently developing solar projects with a combined capacity of up to 80MW in the country.
Ignitis Renewables will conclude an agreement to purchase 100% of the shares of the undisclosed Polish companies “in the near future” in transactions involving total investments of around €50 million (US$57 million).
Lithuania-headquartered Ignitis said in a statement sent to PV Tech that it would not be disclosing the names of the acquired companies at this stage.
At various stages of development, the projects in the acquired portfolio each have a capacity of up to 1MW and will operate under a contract for difference (CfD) awarded by Polish regulator or long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).
The payment of the acquisition price will depend on the achievement of development stages and the CfD secured for the projects, which are expected to start commercial operations in 2022 and 2023.
Darius Maik?t?nas, CEO of Ignitis Group, said the Poland expansion will help the company achieve its target of reaching 4GW of installed green generation capacity by 2030, adding: “Poland is one of the priority markets of the group, where we plan a consistent expansion and are constantly looking for attractive green generation projects that have potential.”
Ignitis last year purchased solar plants in Poland with a combined capacity of up to 170MW from developer Sun Investment Group (SIG) before going on to raise €450 million in an initial public offering, with the company now trading on both the Main Trading List of Nasdaq Vilnius and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.
Ignitis’s Polish expansion follows Lightsource bp announcing its entry into the country’s burgeoning solar market last month, while another developer, R.Power, last week acquired Poland-based PV equipment wholesaler Menlo Electric.
Thanks in part to relatively cheap land and close partnerships with German project developers and equipment manufacturers, consultancy Fitch Solutions has forecasted that Poland will increase its deployed solar capacity from 3.9GW as of 2020 to 16.9GW in 2030.
The country is set to hold a series of renewables auctions next month, with the bulk of energy to be contracted from an auction for solar PV or wind projects with capacities above 1MW.