SEB Bank provides a EUR 42 million loan to Windfarm Akmenė One for project financing

SEB Bank has granted a EUR 42 million green loan for the construction of a wind farm in the Akmenė district. Windfarm Akmenė One, a project of Aquila Clean Energy EMEA, Aquila Group’s clean energy platform in Europe, will use the funds to implement its 74.4 megawatt installed capacity project. 

"Sustainable business investment in a wind farm is a long-term investment that shows investors' confidence in Lithuania's energy future. The loan will help to secure the financing needs of the project and enable further expansion and partnerships with green energy providers in Lithuania. The demand for electricity generated from renewable sources is growing, so the power plant park in Akmenė district is a competitive project with opportunities for further development," says Artūras Vingrys, Head of Client Coverage at SEB Bank.

"The plant is planned to produce its first clean electricity in January 2024, which means we are expanding our active contribution to the energy transition and the decarbonization of the economy to another European country. Also, power purchase agreements have been concluded with major energy suppliers in the region. In SEB, we have found a reliable partner whose attractive financing package has supported us in realizing the project," says Susanne Wermter, CEO of Aquila Clean Energy EMEA.

Wind energy projects in both Europe and the Baltic region have gained significant momentum in recent years, but bureaucratic processes and negotiations with electricity transmission system operators should be accelerated. However, projects in Lithuania are attracting increasing interest from foreign investors and are seen as attractive opportunities. It is expected that large projects like these are an important boost for Lithuania as it seeks to rapidly increase its domestic electricity generation and meet the target set in the National Energy Independence Strategy to generate 100% of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2050.

Windfarm Akmenė One, the project company implementing the wind farm, won Lithuania's first technology-neutral auction to support green energy in early 2020. The project uses twelve of the largest wind turbines which have been installed in the country so far with a capacity of 6.2 megawatts (MW) each.

In 2022, electricity production from wind power in Lithuania was 1.51 terawatt hours (TWh). The Ministry of Energy expects wind power capacity to increase 3.2-fold to 2 613 megawatts in the next few years. According to the Ministry, national electricity production in 2022 was 4.23 TWh, while wind farms, solar power plants and hydroelectric power plants produced 2.54 TWh.