CMS advises R.Power Group on project finance for two battery energy storage systems in Poland and Romania
CMS has advised entities from R.Power Group on the project financing of two standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) projects: a facility with a total capacity of up to 160MW in Poland (Project Jedwabno) and a 127MW/254MWh facility in Scornicești, Romania (Project Scornicesti).
The Project Jedwabno financing was arranged by Siemens Bank GmbH and Erste Group Bank AG, acting as mandated lead arrangers and original lenders, with Erste Bank Polska S.A. as account bank, agent and security agent. The facilities comprise a PLN term facility, a VAT facility and a debt service reserve facility with total commitments of up to approximately PLN 270m.
The Project Scornicești financing was arranged by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), with PKO Bank Polski S.A. Romanian Branch acting as account bank and VAT facility lender. The facilities comprise two EUR term facilities and a letter of guarantee facility with total commitments of EUR 46.4m. Term Facility 1 benefited from the support of the European Union under the InvestEU Fund.
Both transactions represent significant deployments of non-recourse project finance structures in the rapidly growing energy storage sector in Central and Eastern Europe.
CMS provided comprehensive support to the borrower side, including reviewing and negotiating the finance documentation, advising on security packages across multiple jurisdictions (English, Polish and Romanian law), and assisting with conditions precedent.
The CMS team was led by Katarzyna Mazur under the supervision of Jakub Wieczorek and Michał Mężykowski with support from Katarzyna Kaptur, Kamil Stankiewicz and Antoni Łaś (Banking & Finance). Romanian law matters were supported by Ana Radnev and Livia Purice from CMS Bucharest.
