KfW IPEX-Bank contributes to financing for CEE Group repowering fund

• EUR 1.6 billion for capacity expansion of existing wind and solar farms
• Contribution to the energy transition through increased efficiency

KfW IPEX-Bank participates as an arranger in a consortium financing for the expansion of wind and solar projects in Germany. The total volume of financing for the German asset manager CEE Group amounts to up to 1.6 billion euros and is provided in cooperation with UniCredit, CIBC, ING, SMBC and SEB.

The funds will be used to equip existing wind and solar farms with more powerful turbines and PV modules and thus significantly increase the total installed capacity – so-called repowering. In this way, the CEE Group plans to increase the capacity of at least 29 of its 45 existing plants (17 wind and 28 solar farms throughout Germany with individual plants in France) from the current 457 MW to around 1.1 GW – an increase of more than 140 percent.

"We are proud to contribute to this large-scale fund financing that sets new standards and allows for the extensive modernisation and upgrade of existing wind and solar energy infrastructure in Germany," said Dr Velibor Marjanovic, Member of the Management Board of KfW IPEX-Bank. “This underlines our commitment to transforming the economy and society and supports Germany’s resilience and energy independence."

"To our knowledge, this financing structure is unique in the German market for alternative investment funds," explained Detlef Schreiber, CEO of the CEE Group. "For the first time, we have achieved consolidation at portfolio level of the fund – without additional equity from our institutional investors. This not only enables the repayment of various existing credit lines but also secures the complete financing of our ambitious repowering strategy until 2030."

"It speaks for the professionalisation of the market that such an impressive international consortium is financing our repowering strategy with this volume," said Franjo Salic, CIO of the CEE Group. "The megatrend of repowering is absolutely bankable and offers a win-win situation for both equity and debt investors."