2010-04-20 00:00:00
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Romania highlights wind energy potential with two new mega-dealsIberdrola moves forward with 1.5GW project, as local oil and gas giant Petrom confirms plan to invest €100m in Romania's nascent wind energy sector Iberdrola's plan to establish itself as a pan-European renewable energy powerhouse took another leap forward yesterday when its renewable energy arm, Iberdrola Renovables, announced it had won the right to connect 1.5GW of wind power to the grid in Romania. The Spanish energy giant was granted a connection licence by Romanian grid operator Transelectrica, paving the way for the company to erect up to 50 small wind farms as part of Romania's Dobruja Project. The deal will further underline the potential for Romania to emerge as one of the largest wind energy markets in eastern Europe. The country is known to boast some of the best wind resources in the region and the government has repeatedly signalled its support for the sector. However, up until now, projects have struggled as a result of poor grid access. According to figures from the European Wind Energy Association, the country had just 14MW of installed wind energy capacity by the end of 2009, of which just 3MW was installed last year. However, investments have been made to improve the grid and the new connection licence is expected to allow Iberdrola to begin work on the Dobruja project. The project is being developed by a coalition of firms including Eolica Dobrogea, a company owned by Swiss engineering group NEK, and Romanian operators C-Tech and Rokura. While Eolica will take the project through the planning phase, Iberdrola will build and operate the wind farms, with construction expected to start in 2011 and finish by 2017. Iberdrola is also planning to bring another wind farm online in Romania before construction even begins on the new wave of projects in Dobruja. Construction work on the 80MW Mihai Viteazu wind farm, also in the Dobruja region, is expected to begin this year with the site coming online by January 2011. The deal follows news last week that Romanian oil and gas company Petrom has entered the wind energy market after acquiring the rights to develop the proposed 45MW SC wind farm. The company said that it expects to now invest around €100m through both the initial acquisition and further wind farm development. |