Zelestra, a global, multi-technology, customer-focused renewable energy company, has successfully reached financial signing for their first two solar projects in Italy, the 6.5 MWdc Ginosa plant in Puglia and the 9.5 MWdc Bellomo plant in Sicily, through an approximately 13 million senior debt green financing package arranged with Italian lender BPER also acting as Hedging and Agent Bank.
The transaction marks a strong vote of confidence in Zelestra's development capabilities, technical standards and long-term value creation approach. The projects both have long-term PPAs agreed with BKW, a leading Swiss energy and infrastructure group, reinforcing the projects' revenue stability and investment-grade profile. Together, the projects will displace an estimate of 8,500 tons of CO2 emission per year and generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 10,000 Italian homes.
Eliano Russo, CEO at Zelestra Italia, said: "Signing our first financing agreement in Italy with a reputable institutional partner such as BPER represents a key milestone and a strong endorsement of Zelestra's bankability and disciplined approach to project development and execution. We are grateful for the trust placed in our team and platform. We now remain focused on actively doubling our 1.4 GW Italian pipeline in 2026 and bringing many more solar and BESS projects into construction."
Recently Zelestra secured contracts for 9 projects in Italy's FER X auctions that will allow new solar capacity of up to 168 MW to be constructed. Italy is one of Zelestra's fastest growing markets, with a portfolio of more than 1.4 GW of BESS and solar projects in total. The company also recently announced the initial offtake agreement for a large-scale 2 GWh BESS project to be located in the north of Italy, one of the largest battery storage projects in Europe.
