The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested €28.3m in an energy firm Hellenic Petroleum to support the development photovoltaic and wind projects with a total capacity of 190MW in Greece.

The provision of the fund marks the first investment of EBRD in Greek renewable energy.

The EBRD has introduced Greek Renewable Energy Framework in March 2017, with an aim to offer €300m financing to support investments in electricity generation from renewable sources in Greece.

The framework also supports projects for electricity distribution and transmission capacity to enhance efficiency, reduce losses and allow the integration of renewables into the grid.

It was set up after Greece launched market-based, renewable-energy support scheme that introduces competitive auctions to replace fixed-price feed-in tariffs.

In the first such auction, Elpe Renewables, a renewables unit of Hellenic Petroleum, has secured three projects for photovoltaic power plants.

The EBRD’s framework is aimed at supporting the country to realise its huge potential for renewable energy.

Since 2015, over €1.2bn has been invested by the EBRD in 22 projects for financial, energy, infrastructure and agribusiness sectors of the Greek economy. Overall, the EBRD has invested over €3.5bn in 104 projects across 23 countries between 2007 and 2016.

EBRD Power and Energy Utilities director Harry Boyd-Carpenter said: “Our new renewables support scheme in Greece lays a sustainable foundation for the development of the sector, in particular by using a competitive mechanism. The success of such a strong and experienced company as Hellenic Petroleum is a real endorsement for that mechanism.”

Hellenic Petroleum deputy CEO & CFO Andreas Shiamishis said: “The EBRD has been a long-standing partner of Hellenic Petroleum and this transaction presents us with another opportunity to increase the scope of our cooperation.

“The EBRD’s commitment to Greece and the renewables sector is aligned with our own strategy and supports economic growth and investment in the country.”