Vienna-based independent power producer Renalfa IPP has secured €315 million in holdco financing to support a large-scale renewable energy and storage expansion across Central and Eastern Europe, the company announced on Thursday.
The funding, led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), is part of a wider €1.2 billion investment programme that aims to deliver around 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of renewable generation capacity and approximately 3.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of co-located battery energy storage systems (BESS) across Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and North Macedonia.
According to Renalfa, once fully implemented, the portfolio is expected to produce approximately 2.3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually—enough to power around 920,000 households—while improving grid stability through energy storage.
“The successful raising of growth funding is an important milestone for Renalfa IPP and for our whole group,” said Ivo Prokopiev, chief executive at Renalfa IPP. “It proves the competitiveness of our integrated model for developing, investing and operating large hybrid assets.”
The financing package includes €100 million directly from the EBRD, with an additional €100 million mobilised from commercial lenders under an A/B loan structure. The transaction marks the first time the EBRD has used an InvestEU guarantee to support an A/B loan, allowing risk-sharing benefits from the EU to extend to participating private banks.
“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,” said Matteo Patrone, EBRD vice president of banking.
Other members of the lender consortium include the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), OTP Bank, Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), UniCredit, and Kommunalkredit.
The presence of the EU-backed guarantee is designed to mitigate risks associated with merchant-based renewable power and emerging storage technologies, which can face revenue uncertainty in less mature markets.
Renalfa is a joint venture between Bulgaria-based Renalfa Solarpro Group and French infrastructure fund manager RGreen Invest. The company focuses on developing solar, wind, and battery storage assets.
“At RGreen Invest, we are incredibly proud to support this landmark financing and to deepen our partnership with Renalfa,” said Mathilde Ketoff, partner at RGreen Invest.
Renalfa said the early integration of long-duration BESS technology will enable it to offer green baseload energy products for the first time in the region, supporting the wider energy transition.
