Polish Coal Power Provider ZE PAK Secures Loan For 70 MW Solar Farm

Poland’s second-largest coal power provider, Zespół Elektrowni Pątnów-Adamów-Konin SA (ZE PAK SA), has secured a PLN 175 million for the construction of a 70-MWp solar farm in Brudzew, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. Work on the solar farm is in progress and is expected to be completed in the final quarter of 2021. The solar farm is expected to generate approximately 68 GWh in its first year of operation.

The financing has been provided to special purpose company PAK PCE Fotowoltaika by a bank consortium consisting of PKO BP SA, Bank Pekao SA, and mBank SA, the energy group said recently. The solar farm will sell power to Polkomtel Sp. z o.o., which is the network operator of the Polish free-to-air television channel Polsat Group. The owner of the telecommunication company, Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, a polish entrepreneur, is also the second-largest shareholder of ZE PAK SA. The largest stakeholder is the Polish government, with a 50% stake.

The construction of the solar farm aligns with ZE PAK's strategy to stop producing electricity from lignite by 2030. The project is located in a former lignite mining area, where extraction ceased in February 2021. The company has created a training center for solar installers, so people who were until recently engaged in lignite extraction and gained skills at the center were able to get a job on the solar project; by doing this, ZE PAK mitigates the socio-economic impact of ending lignite power production in eastern Wielkopolska.