Pekao to invest in photovoltaics and wind farms

Ten post dostępny jest także w języku: polski

Pekao Bank, as part of its ESG strategy, intends to look into financing investments in large photovoltaic farms and offshore wind farms. According to Pekao, the number of prosumer photovoltaic installations will soon stop growing, as the market for these investments is almost saturated. Therefore, the bank plans to develop new green projects.

According to Paweł Strączyński, vice-president of Pekao, corporations decide to cooperate with the bank when investing in large photovoltaic and offshore farms because these are projects that comply with the ESG strategy. Additionally, an important issue is the mitigation of market risk, i.e. price risk and volume risk. This is influenced by the fact that the Baltic Sea has excellent wind analysis. As Strączyński emphasises, the execution of PGE, Orlen and Polenergia projects is carried out in cooperation with foreign partners who know the realities well, which again translates into mitigation.

Currently, the bank is waiting for the regulations concerning the construction of onshore wind farms to be amended. The relaxation of distance restrictions will allow the launch of projects that are planned for several hundred megawatts. The bank is also counting on the introduction of legislative solutions in the sector of photovoltaic projects carried out by prosumers. It is likely, however, that the interest in prosumer photovoltaic installations will weaken and there will not be many new investments. It is worth noting that the current installed capacity of photovoltaic power plants in Poland reaches 6 GW, which may mean that the photovoltaic market is almost fully saturated.

Pekao will fund green projects

Bank Pekao, which is part of the PZU Group, decided in June 2021 to introduce an ESG strategy, which governs the bank’s approach to sustainable development and is based on three pillars: environment, engagement, and governance. As part of this strategy, Pekao will arrange financing for new green projects of more than PLN 30bn by 2024, and this amount will consist of both new financing for sustainable projects including green and social projects of PLN 8bn and support for the issuance of ESG bonds of the bank’s clients, which will amount to approximately PLN 22bn.

Bank Pekao has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1998 and the bank’s assets amounted to PLN 233bn at the end of 2020.