(Bloomberg) -- Poland’s state-run fuel and power conglomerate Orlen SA will increase its renewable energy capacity by nearly a third through a 1.15 billion zloty ($290 million) deal to buy wind and solar projects from EDP Renováveis.
The transaction, announced on Friday, reflects Orlen’s ambitions to become a key player in the country’s energy transition, while for EDPR it’s part of a €6 billion ($6.5 billion) asset rotation program. Poland, which has historically been dependent on burning coal for electricity production, has recently accelerated its switch to renewables to meet European Union climate goals.
While Orlen still generates most of its revenue from refining and sales of fuel, the $18 billion company intends to continue to branch out into green energy, according to Chief Executive Officer Ireneusz Fafara.
Orlen is “actively looking for further attractive projects on the renewable energy market to seize every business opportunity that comes our way,” Fafara said in a statement.
The wind farms and solar projects which will be taken over by a unit of Orlen will generate around 400 GWh of electricity a year — enough to power as many as 182,000 households.
Orlen shares traded 0.3% lower as of 11:23 a.m. in Warsaw, while the country’s blue-chip WIG20 index dropped 1.3%.
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