NewsA&O Shearman advises lenders on Albania’s first large-scale solar power plant

A&O Shearman is pleased to announce that it has represented lenders, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Intesa Sanpaolo Bank and its subsidiaries, on the EUR 99 million financing to Karavasta Solar (a subsidiary of Voltalia, an international player in renewable energies) for the development, construction and operation of a 140-megawatt power plant and a 19-kilometre overhead transmission line located in Fier municipality, Albania.

The solar project is the biggest photovoltaic system under construction in the Western Balkans, as well as the first utility-scale solar photovoltaic project in Albania resulting from the country’s first competitive auction for solar power following the introduction of the EBRD Renewable Energy Auctions Programme in Albania. According to EBRD, the project will be a model for other facilities in the Western Balkans region.

Miklos Kadar, Budapest-based partner in the Projects, Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Group at A&O Shearman, added: “We are proud to have advised on such a strategic transaction, which marks an important step in Albania’s journey to the diversification of local generation sources.”

The transaction involved a cross-border team from Budapest, Prague and Dubai, headed by partner Miklos Kadar, working closely with partner Petr Vybíral, senior associate Jana Maršálková, and associates Tereza Veverková and Jakub Roszyk.

With the help of Legatics, a product developed in collaboration with A&O Shearman tech innovation space, Fuse, our team successfully managed the CP satisfaction process involving approx. 250 individual deliverables.