Sunly, a prominent renewable energy producer, has secured €300 million in debt financing to accelerate the construction of 1.3 GW of solar, wind, storage, and hybrid parks across the Baltics and Poland. This substantial investment, which highlights market confidence in Sunly’s role in driving regional energy transformation, is backed by Rivage Investment, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and Norway’s largest pension company, Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP).
The financing was led by Rivage Investment through its second high-yield infrastructure debt fund, REDI HR2, and its Fund for Infrastructure Climate Solutions. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners contributed via its Green Credit Fund I, with additional participation from KLP through funds managed by CIP.
This funding comes at a critical time as the European Union (EU) intensifies its efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas. Despite these efforts, EU countries imported approximately 30% more natural gas from Russia in May 2024 than in September 2022, according to Clean Energy Wire. The Baltic states and Poland have been particularly vulnerable to the price volatility and supply disruptions that accompany geopolitical tensions, often resulting in higher energy costs compared to other European regions.
The upcoming desynchronisation of the Baltic and Polish electricity grids from Russian and Belarusian networks in February 2025 is a significant step towards enhancing regional energy independence and security.
Priit Lepasepp, co-founder and CEO of Sunly, emphasised the importance of this investment for the company’s infrastructure development. “This investment enables us to improve our infrastructure with new grid connections and solar parks in the Baltics, supporting our onshore wind and storage pipeline expansion,” Lepasepp stated. “Our focus will be on building hybrid pipelines with storage capabilities and advancing the electrification of heating and mobility systems. This will help reduce energy costs and diminish reliance on imported fossil fuels, optimising the use of local renewable resources.”
Sunly’s strategy involves developing integrated hybrid parks that combine wind, solar, and energy storage batteries at a single connection point, with a direct line to consumers. This approach not only stabilises energy production across varying weather conditions but also optimises cost-efficiency by reducing grid connectivity charges, which are projected to constitute over half of total energy costs. This method is expected to particularly benefit large industrial clients with high energy consumption by enhancing both regional energy security and operational efficiency.
Gaétane Tracz, Partner and Head of the Infrastructure Debt team at Rivage, expressed confidence in Sunly’s growth potential. “We are delighted to support Sunly’s leadership team on their ambitious growth trajectory and to help accelerate the construction of hybrid renewable energy parks across the Baltics and Poland,” Tracz said. “We share Sunly’s mission of producing power with purpose, contributing to EU energy security, and delivering investments with both attractive performance and ESG impact.”
Jakob Groot, Partner at CIP and Co-Head of the CI Green Credit Fund I, echoed these sentiments. “We are very excited to begin our partnership with Sunly. This financing package will significantly contribute to the development of renewable energy projects, supporting the decarbonisation ambitions of the Baltics and Poland,” Groot remarked.
Oliver Siem, Director of Investments and Operations at KLP, also voiced his support. “We are pleased to co-invest in another renewable energy project in Poland and the Baltics through our longstanding relationship with CIP. This is one of many steps towards our goal of being Paris-aligned by 2050.”
One of the first projects to benefit from this financing is the 244 MW Risti solar park in Estonia, capable of powering 55,000 households annually. Sunly has plans to expand this site into a hybrid park with onshore wind turbines and battery storage.
Additionally, construction will commence on four solar parks in Latvia, with a combined capacity of 553 MW, also designed as hybrids with potential future integration of wind or battery storage. Sunly’s 1.3 GW portfolio includes several large hybrid solar parks in Lithuania and multiple solar parks in Poland, both large and small, set for completion by 2026.
This latest round of financing adds to the €765 million in debt and equity capital Sunly has already secured from investors, including Mirova, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and various banks.