Norton Rose Fulbright advises PKO BP on financing PV portfolio in Poland with a capacity 113 MWp

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright advised Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski on financing construction of 113 MWp (87 MWac) Miłkowice PV portfolio sponsored by a leading Spanish investor, Q-Energy.

The energy generated by the solar farm will be sold to Amazon under a long-term, corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA). Amazon is the world's largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy and this CPPA will help Amazon on its path to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of its original target of 2030.

Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski is a leading lender in the Polish Renewable energy market in Poland. Its team included Adam Kosmala and Michał Słowik.

Q-Energy is a leading fund manager focused on renewable energy, energy transition and sustainable infrastructure. Since 2007, the Q-Energy team, composed of more than 400 professionals, has managed investments of more than €11 billion in renewable energies worldwide. This investment has been deployed through four vehicles: Fotowatio / FRV, Vela Energy, Q-Energy III and Q-Energy IV. Offering integrated investment and asset management services, Q-Energy manages more than 1.6 GW of energy, including more than 1 GW of solar PV, 243 MW of solar thermal power (CSP) and 325 MW of wind power across Spain, Germany, Poland, and Italy.

The Warsaw team was led by senior associate Daniel Popek and assisted by associate Karolina Majcher, senior associate Krzysztof Gorzelak and lawyer Daniel Książek (hedging aspects), lawyer Jakub Chmiel, senior associate Cezary Zawiślak, associate Paula Stępień and lawyer Bartosz Odziemkowski from Warsaw and was supported by London team: associate Daniel Too and associate Lauren Birt and by Washington, D.C. team: Marissa Leigh Alcala. Tomasz Rogalski, counsel and head of energy practice in Poland, supervised the transaction.

Daniel Popek, who led the Norton Rose Fulbright team on this transaction commented:

“We are delighted to have assisted Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski on this important transaction and one of the Polish market’s first project financing based on the cPPA denominated in euro. This financing marks the key step made by our client - Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski which has provided long-term euro denominated financing for the construction of PV portfolio constructed by Q-Energy. We see rapid development of the cPPA-based construction and financing structures in Poland, also denominated in euro which make it more affordable for the lenders and sponsors to arrange euro dominated financings of the Polish renewable energy projects”.