“It is a great pleasure for me to announce the beginning of commercial operations in Dorobantu wind farm. This investment reaffirms our commitment to supply energy in Romania,” said Hilmar Kroat-Reder, member of Petrom Executive Board, responsible for Gas and Power.
Petrom, the Romanian arm of Austria’s OMV (OMV.VI), invested around EUR90 million in the 45 MW wind farm in Dorobantu.
The wind farm includes 15 Vestas-V90 turbines with a capacity of 3 MW each. Construction began in the second half of 2010 and was completed in July this year.
Petrom plans to use the green certificates allocated to Dorobantu wind farm to cover the company’s regulated quota for energy consumption, which is estimated at around 1 TWh per year. The remaining certificates will be sold on the local market, the oil company said in a statement.
OMV owns 51.01% in Petrom. The Economy Ministry holds a 20.63% stake in the company, while investment fund Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO) owns 20.11%.
The company reported a net profit after minorities of 1.74 billion lei (EUR417 million) in the first half, up 14% on the year. Consolidated sales rose 23% to RON10.3 billion, mainly driven by higher oil and product prices and increased gas sales volumes.
At around 10:00 local time, Petrom’s shares were gaining 1.82% at RON0.28 in Bucharest. (EUR1=RON4.3144)