German energy group RWE and Greek power utility PPC have made a final investment decision (FID) on the construction of a 432-MW/450-MWp solar farm in Western Macedonia.
The project, dubbed Orycheio Dei Amynteo, will be built within the former Amynteo open-pit lignite mine. Construction works are set to start over the next few months, with the site expected to be finalised by the end of 2025.
The future solar farm already has a 10-year bilateral power purchase agreement (PPA) in place for its entire output with PPC and RWE Supply & Trading.
The investment in the new project is estimated at EUR 255.4 million (USD 275.2m). Some EUR 127.7 million of the total amount will be made available through Greeceās Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), while EUR 76.6 million is secured via commercial debt on pro-rata club-deal basis by Alpha Bank SA, Eurobank SA and National Bank of Greece SA.
Orycheio Dei Amynteo comes as part of the Amynteo Cluster III and is being realised via Meton Energy SA, a joint venture between RWE Renewables Europe & Australia with a stake of 51% and PPC Renewables with a 49% shareholding.
The partnership is already building eight large-scale solar projects, within the Amynteo Clusters I & II in the region. These power-generating assets have a combined capacity of 434 MW/490 MWp and are expected to go live later this year.