Rezolv Energy has operationalized the St. George photovoltaic park, one of the largest photovoltaic parks in Bulgaria, built on the site of the former Silistra airport.
According to a company statement, with an investment of 300 million dollars, St. George is the first project put into operation by Rezolv Energy and was completed in a short time, becoming fully operational in less than three years after taking over the development rights.
Along with the St. George solar park in Bulgaria, the company has a portfolio in Romania that includes three major projects: the 461 MW VIFOR wind park in Buzău County, with its first phase of 192 MW to be put into operation 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 it becomes operational; and the 600 MW East and West Danube wind farms in Constanta County. Together, these projects represent an investment of 2.3 billion euros and will create over 1,200 direct jobs.
The 225 MW solar farm in Silistra is among the largest in Bulgaria, built on a 165-hectare brownfield site. The farm will operate for at least 30 years. St. George includes almost 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 increase 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. Sofia-based Solarpro, a leading technology integrator 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 works 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 the Ardagh Group. This VPPA, one of the first of its kind in Bulgaria, will provide 110 GWh of renewable energy annually to AGP-Europe over a period of 12 years.
The project also benefited from EUR 90 million in loan financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Raiffeisen Bank International.
“St. George started 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 goals. Today, this 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,” said Alastair Hammond, CEO of Rezolv Energy, quoted in the press release.
Founded in 2022 by Actis, Rezolv Energy is one of the largest independent renewable energy producers in Central and Eastern Europe. Along with the St. George solar park in Bulgaria, the company has a portfolio of 2 GW of large-capacity onshore wind and solar projects in Romania, under construction or in advanced stages of development.