Agenda

As host nation, Poland sets the tone for the two days ahead. This keynote opens proceedings with a direct read on the auction framework, grid reform and where policy is heading as the market adapts to a new operating reality. Key takeaways:

• A clear read on Poland's near-term auction and grid reform priorities
• Context that frames every market discussion over the two days that follow

In 2026, capture rates have declined to 50-60% of baseload, while negative prices have reshaped the investment case for standalone PV assets. This panel evaluates how developers and financiers navigate cannibalisation and grid constraints.

• How are curtailment and cannibalisation impacting asset economics?
• What does a financeable, bankable solar project look like today?
• What innovations in PPAs and revenue hedging protect asset value?
• Has standalone utility-scale solar had its day in the region?

Romania’s co-located solar and battery market is moving faster than almost anywhere else in the region, and the first operational projects are starting to talk back.

• What co-located configurations are reaching financial close, and what does a bankable structure look like?
• What are the first operational hybrid projects revealing about battery dispatch performance against projections?
• How is Transelectrica's new grid framework affecting co-location connection rights and shared infrastructure economics?
• How close is Romania to the market pressures already visible in Poland, and does co-located storage change that outlook?

This presentation puts the region's capture rate and hybrid deployment data side by side, focused squarely on how the economics of a co-located deal actually pencil out, building the numerical backbone for the deal-making conversations that follow.

• How do capture rates and deployment volumes compare across Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and the wider region?
• What does the data suggest about where hybrid economics work best right now?

The CEE project finance landscape is transforming as lenders adapt underwriting models to manage grid constraints and merchant volatility. This conversation explores how debt providers are evolving their risk assessment frameworks for solar and hybrid projects facing curtailment and revenue uncertainty, and what developers must demonstrate to secure competitive financing.

• How is curtailment risk being priced by financial institutions during debt structuring?
• Which co-location and battery storage revenue streams are truly considered bankable by risk officers?
• What flexible financing structures and debt covenants are required to unlock capital for hybrid energy projects?
• How have debt-sizing models changed in response to negative pricing?
• What due diligence requirements have become more stringent, and what can developers do to prepare?

Hybrid projects dominate every hallway conversation in CEE right now, yet actual PPA closures remain surprisingly rare. This session pulls apart why, tracing the gap between the deals developers want to structure and the ones corporate buyers are actually prepared to sign, and tests whether the underlying numbers still hold once a hybrid project is built.

• What PPA structures are closing in CEE today, and which remain more promise than practice?
• How do corporate buyers view battery economics, and why do some treat hybrid investment as speculative?
• Which revenue streams, arbitrage, capacity markets, frequency response and curtailment mitigation, are lenders prepared to underwrite?
• How are cross-border PPA arrangements becoming essential for scope 2 requirements and 24-hour matching?

Every project eventually needs a buyer, a refinancer, or both. This session follows an asset's full arc, from the handover moments that quietly shape long-term value, to the documentation and track record that separate a smooth exit from a stalled one.

• What are the most common issues during the construction to operations handover, and how do they affect long term value?
• What operational track record do buyers and refinancers expect when evaluating existing assets?
• What technical, commercial and legal attributes separate a highly sought asset from one that struggles to find a buyer?
• What documentation and warranties are now considered essential for a smooth transaction?

In December 2025, a coordinated cyberattack disrupted communications and control systems across roughly 30 wind and solar sites in Poland, the first incident of its scale against European renewable infrastructure. This conversation unpacks what happened, why storage assets carry a different exposure to generation assets, and where the insurance market still has ground to cover.

• What happened during the Poland incident, and why does it expose a different risk profile for storage than for generation?
• Where does the current insurance market fall short when an attack blurs the line between a cyber policy and a property policy?
• What communication protocol weaknesses are asset owners being encouraged to address first?

Bulgaria is one of Europe's most compelling subsidy-free solar stories. With gigawatt-scale additions and massive projects advancing, the market faces declining capture rates and new eco-taxes. This session explores the country’s next phase, detailing merchant strategies, hybrid project economics, and the impact of the 2026 Eurozone adoption.

• How has Bulgaria sustained three consecutive years of 1 GW-plus solar deployment without direct subsidies?
• What do current storage project configurations look like, and what are lenders underwriting to reach financial close?
• What critical structuring lessons can developers and financiers learn from Bulgaria’s largest merchant hybrid project?
• How far along is the transition to standalone storage and hybridisation to combat declining capture rates?
• How severely will the recent sharp increases in local recycling fees impact procurement for new projects?
• What does Eurozone adoption mean for reducing currency risk and attracting Western institutional capital to project finance?

In February 2025, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania completed a decade-long, over two billion euro effort to synchronise their electricity grids with Continental Europe, one of the most complex cross-border infrastructure projects the region has seen, delivered largely on schedule and backed by more than a billion euros in EU funding. This session looks past the headline achievement to the delivery story itself, what actually made a project of this scale and complexity work, and what other CEE markets tackling their own large infrastructure builds can take from it.

• What made coordinating three national grid operators and multiple governments on a single timeline actually work?
• How was the EU funding structured, and what does that offer other large cross-border grid projects in the region?
• What role did technical innovation, including new battery systems developed with local universities, play in getting this over the line?
• What can developers and grid operators elsewhere in CEE take from how this project stayed on schedule?

Grid connectivity has emerged as the defining challenge across CEE markets, fundamentally reshaping project economics and development timelines. Curtailment is eroding revenues, connection costs are escalating, and traditional grid access routes are proving inadequate. This session examines the technical and commercial realities facing developers today, exploring how cable pooling, alternative connection routes, and strategic grid engagement can unlock project viability in constrained markets.

• What is the current state of grid capacity and curtailment across CEE markets?
• How does cable pooling work, and what commercial benefits does it offer?
• What are the alternative routes to grid connectivity, and when do they make sense?
• How are recent grid connection rule changes affecting project development?