A €22 million secured bond issue has been successfully completed, enabling the development of one of Latvia’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS) projects. Saules BESS, a portfolio company of the Sustainable Energy Fund managed by Merito Partners, will use the financing to install battery energy storage systems at eight operational solar power plants, providing a total storage capacity of 120 MWh.
The new BESS facilities will be co-located with the existing solar power plants, creating hybrid solar-plus-storage projects. This approach enables significantly more efficient use of existing distribution grid connections, optimizes the sale of electricity generated by the solar power plants, and makes an important contribution to the stability of Latvia’s electricity system. The total investment in the project undertaken by Saules BESS amounts to €26 million, with completion scheduled by the end of 2026.
More than 80 institutional and private investors from across the Baltic states participated in the bond issue. The bonds are secured by a commercial pledge over the company’s assets and shares and have a maturity of 3.5 years. The bonds will be admitted to trading on the Nasdaq Riga First North market. The bond issue was arranged by Signet Bank.
Māris Plūme, CEO of the Sustainable Energy Fund portfolio companies Saules Energy and Saules BESS, said: “This project is significant both for our fund’s investors and for Latvia’s energy system as a whole. We were among the first companies to connect utility-scale solar power plants to the grid, and with this project, we will become a major participant in the BESS market this year. The synergy between these two types of assets improves economic efficiency, diversifies revenue streams, and helps mitigate the volatility inherent in renewable energy generation.”
Edmunds Antufjevs, Head of Investment Banking at Signet Bank, said: “Battery energy storage systems are becoming one of the most critical components of electricity infrastructure, and this bond issue is an important example of how capital markets can support the development of projects of this scale. Strong investor participation demonstrates growing interest in sustainable energy infrastructure and a willingness to finance major projects across the Baltic region.”
