Riga, Feb 10 (LETA) - Citadele Bank has granted a EUR 3.585 million loan to Lithuanian investment group companies for the construction of three solar power plants in Talsi and Sigulda municipalities, representatives of Citadele Bank informed LETA.

The loan was granted under the European Investment Bank's Renewable Energy Program, as well as through a guarantee from the European funds through the Development Finance Institution Altum (Altum).

The power plants, covering an area of more than 17 hectares, will be built in Upeslejas and Ievkalni in the Talsi municipality and Veclugas in the Sigulda municipality.

The power plants, with a total of 13,650 solar panels, are expected to generate around 11,545 megawatt hours (MWh) per year.

Construction work has already started on the power plants and they are expected to be commissioned in the second quarter of this year.

The general contractor for the projects is Vejusta (UB Solar), a Lithuanian company that designs, builds and operates solar parks and has built more than 450 MWh of solar parks in the Baltics, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Poland.

The Citadele Bank loan has been granted to three Latvian companies OE Holdings, SPD Nils and SPD Aleksandra, established for the development of these projects and 100 percent owned by the investment company LV PV.

At the end of 2023, Citadele was the third largest bank in Latvia by assets. Its bonds are listed on Nasdaq Riga. Approximately 75 percent of Citadele's shares are owned by an international group of investors and other minority shareholders represented by the investment company Ripplewood Advisors LLC. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development owns almost 25 percent of the shares.