Rezolv Energy has commissioned the St. George photovoltaic park, one of Bulgaria's largest photovoltaic parks, built on the site of the former Silistra airport.
According to a company statement, with an investment of $300 million, St. George is the first project commissioned by Rezolv Energy and was completed in a short period, becoming fully operational in less than three years from the acquisition of development rights.
Alongside the St. George solar park in Bulgaria, the company's portfolio in Romania includes three major projects: the 461 MW VIFOR wind farm in Buzău County, with its first phase of 192 MW to be commissioned in the coming months; Dama Solar in Arad County, which, with a capacity of 1.24 GW, will be the largest solar park in Europe once operational; and the 600 MW Dunărea Est and Dunărea Vest wind farms in Constanța County. Together, these projects represent an investment of 2.3 billion euros and will create over 1,200 direct jobs.
The 225 MW solar park in Silistra is among the largest in Bulgaria, built on a 165-hectare brownfield site. The park will operate for at least 30 years. St. George includes nearly 400,000 solar panels and will generate approximately 313 GWh of electricity annually.
The project also includes a 90 MW / 240 MWh battery energy storage system, supported by a grant from the European Union's NextGenerationEU program. The storage system will enhance flexibility and contribute to grid stability, allowing energy produced during periods of strong sunshine to be used when it is most needed.
The project was carried out in collaboration with Bulgarian and international partners. Solarpro, a Sofia-based company and a leader in technology integration in Eastern Europe, and CMC Europe acted as EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) partners. Green Solar Energy, another Bulgarian company, carried out the high-voltage work required for grid connection.
The construction phase was supported by a long-term Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) with Ardagh Glass Packaging-Europe (AGP-Europe), part of Ardagh Group. This VPPA, one of the first of its kind in Bulgaria, will supply AGP-Europe with 110 GWh of renewable energy annually for a period of 12 years.
The project also benefited from a €90 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Raiffeisen Bank International.
“St. George began with a vision to transform an unused brownfield site into a flagship renewable energy project, capable of significantly contributing to Bulgaria's energy security and climate objectives. Today, that vision has become a reality. At the same time, it marks Rezolv Energy's transition from developer to operator and long-term manager of clean energy infrastructure.”, stated Alastair Hammond, CEO of Rezolv Energy, cited in the statement.
Founded in 2022 by Actis, Rezolv Energy is one of the largest independent renewable energy producers in Central and Eastern Europe. Alongside the St. George solar park in Bulgaria, the company owns a portfolio of 2 GW of high-capacity onshore wind and solar projects in Romania, which are either under construction or in advanced stages of development.