Valorem locks Alpha Bank debt for 27-MW wind project in Greece

France’s Valorem has secured long-term debt financing to back the construction of its first wind farm in Greece, a 27-MW project within the Askio mountain range in the northwestern part of the Balkan country.

The independent green energy operator said on Tuesday it has raised the financing from local lender Alpha Bank. The debt of nearly EUR 31 million (USD 33m) is earmarked for its EUR-40-million Magoula project.

To be located to the northwest of Kozani town, the proposed wind farm will be equipped with six V150-4.5 MW turbines by Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems. The annual gross output of the machines is estimated at some 71 GWh, or enough to supply 18,000 homes.

Valorem intends to start building the plant at the end of this year and bring it online in the first quarter of 2024. Air Energy will act as the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

The project was one of the winners in the July 2020 renewable energy auction held by Greece’s Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) and will be operated under a feed-in tariff (FiT) contract. Valorem noted it will perform asset management services in-house.

At present, the French firm has roughly 700 MW of projects under development in Greece, which is one of its key markets.

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