UK and Polish export agencies guarantee loan for Turkish solar project: Credit agencies UK Export Finance (UKEF) and Poland’s KUKE have guaranteed a EUR 249 mn loan for Turkish renewable energy company Kalyon Enerji, according to a statement released on Thursday. The loan will fund the construction of Turkey’s second-largest solar project, the 390 MW farm located across seven separate sites in Bor-Nigde, Gaziantep, and Sanliurfa-Viransehir regions. Over EUR 122 mn of the loan will be reinsured by KUKE.

About the solar project: Through its subsidiary UK Grid Solutions, British company GE Vernova will supply and install key equipment — including inverter stations and power plant controllers — produced at its Staffordshire site. KUKE on the other hand will contribute security systems and steel components. The project is expected to provide enough electricity to power over 65k Turkish households annually.

Advisors: Standard Chartered served as the Green Loan Coordinator, Lead Arranger and Lender.

UKEF provided a similar guarantee in 2021: UKEF provided a guarantee for Kalyon Enerji’s Karapinar solar project, the largest such project in Turkey and Europe, in 2021. The project — which was also developed in partnership with GE Vernova — was inaugurated in 2023.

UKEF is already active in Turkey: UK-based renewable energy developer Hive Energy received EUR 19 mn in funding from Santander Bank — facilitated by UKEF — to fund new and ongoing projects in countries including Turkey and Serbia in March. Hive Energy specializes in developing solar power, battery storage and green hydrogen projects, and will expand upon its existing 11 MW capacity in Turkey as well as establish projects in Serbia.

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