Energy RTB 2 LLC, a subsidiary of agricultural holding Kernel, may secure up to $45 million in senior secured financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to build a 106 MW solar park and a battery energy storage system in Ukraine. The total project cost is estimated at $86 million.
The EBRD has moved the Kernel project to Passed Final Review, Pending Approval status, with consideration by the Bank’s Board of Directors scheduled for April 9, 2026. The borrower is Energy RTB 2 LLC, a Ukrainian subsidiary of Kernel Group.
According to the EBRD’s official Project Summary Document, the funds are intended not for an abstract portfolio of green generation assets, but for a specific project involving the construction of a 106 MW solar power plant and the installation of a battery energy storage system (BESS) in Ukraine. The EBRD estimates the total project cost at $86 million, while its own financing could reach $45 million.
In addition to the EBRD loan, the project may also receive up to $10 million in parallel co-financing, as well as partial first-loss risk coverage from the European Union through the Ukraine Investment Framework. The bank emphasizes that this structure is intended to address the shortage of long-term financing for energy projects during wartime and help mobilize additional private capital.
Importantly, according to Latifundist, citing Kernel’s press service, this financing case does not relate to the previously announced solar power project in Chernivtsi region, which the company last year described as potentially the largest in western Ukraine. In October 2025, Kernel confirmed plans to build a plant with a capacity of up to 250 MW in Bukovyna, but the current EBRD application concerns a different region and a different asset.
For Kernel, this forms part of a broader energy strategy. At the end of February, CEO Yevhen Osypov stated that the agricultural holding plans to invest around $400 million in wind and solar generation, as well as energy storage systems, over the next two years, while the combined capacity of the new projects could reach around 600 MW.
If the EBRD Board approves the financing on April 9, this would become one of the largest publicly disclosed debt financing cases in Ukraine’s private renewable energy sector in 2026 and an important signal to the market that international financial institutions are prepared to support new generation and storage projects even under wartime risk. This conclusion is based on the project’s scale, its risk-sharing structure, and the participation of the EBRD and the EU.
