Czech utility CEZ acquired a project to build two wind farms in the Romanian regions of Fontanele and Cogealac, with a total installed capacity of 600 MW, CEZ said Wednesday (27th August).
The first wind farm, with an installed capacity of 347.5 MW, is scheduled to start in 2009 and the remaining turbines, with capacity of 252.5 MW, are slated to start production power by the end of 2010, according to CEZ.
When completed, the wind farms, situated in the vicinity of Black Sea, are expected to provide as much as 30% of Romania’s renewable energy, including hydro generation. Currently, the installed capacity of wind farms in the country totals about 7 MW.
The project will expand CEZ activity in Romania to include production. CEZ bought Romanian distribution company Electrica Oltenia in 2005. The company is prepared to invest EUR 1.1 billion into the project.
In line with EU requirement 24% of Romania’s electricity consumption must come from renewable sources by 2020, while current renewable generation only accounts for 18% of national demand.
Romania’s government officials were recently cited in the media as saying the country was ready to meet the target and would mainly rely on hydro, wind and biomass production.

(THE ICIS HEREN REPORTS - EDEM 12 166 / 27 August 2008)