Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”) on a €50m Greek law financing and Piraeus Bank S.A. (“Piraeus Bank”) on a €10m Greek law parallel financing for the construction, development and operation of Greek renewable energy projects by companies in the Terna Energy group. The facility will allow Terna Energy to construct wind farms with a planned capacity of 48 MW to add to current installed capacity of 738 MW, which is expected to exceed 1,000 MW over the next few years.

EBRD began investing in Greece in 2015 to support the country’s economic recovery. In addition to strengthening the financial sector, which represents 26 per cent of its current portfolio, EBRD’s other priorities are support for privatisation, infrastructure development and regional integration of the Greek economy. To date, EBRD has invested almost €640 million in Greece in 13 projects across sectors.

“This transaction is not only our first investment in the Greek electricity sector, it also marks the transition to a new market-based scheme for renewable energy which helps deliver clean energy to end-users at a lower price. We are very pleased to support Terna Energy’s wind projects alongside Piraeus Bank and we hope that this investment will lay the groundwork for a deeper involvement in the Greek electricity market,” EBRD noted.

The WFW Athens team was led by project and structured finance Partner Marisetta Marcopoulou, supported by Associates Valina Giouzelaki and Matina Kanellopoulou.

Marisetta commented: “We are delighted to have advised the Banks on this important transaction. That they chose WFW as their legal advisers on this matter demonstrates the firm’s broad experience and expertise in the Greek renewables sector which helped us to work with all parties involved and achieve the best result for our clients”.