“In 2012, the transmission and system operator (Transelectrica i.e.) got 65 grid connection applications, one of which for an energy generation facility using conventional fuel (450 MW) and 64 facilities using renewable energy sources (5,903 MW),” reads the 2012 National Report recently published by the energy market watchdog, ANRE.
According to Transelectrica’s website, Smart Electric Design got the technical approval to connect to the grid – an early stage in the development of an energy generation project, for a cogeneration facility (which produces both electricity and natural gas) with a capacity of 450 MW on February 19, 2013.
The new facility should become operational in 2015 and be built in Vetis, Satu Mare.
“Construction has not begun yet but the project is moving ahead,” company sources said.
The representatives of Renovatio, which is known in Romania for its wind farm projects developed in partnership with Energias de Portugal (EDP), did not provide any comment by the time the story was ready for posting.
Trade Registry data show Renovatio is behind Smart Electric Design and owns 95% in it. Renovatio posted more than EUR45 million revenue last year, according to its corporate website and is involved in several wind and solar farms in Romania.
Renovatio owns a 17 MW wind farm in Baia, Tulcea (SE Romania) and operates a 339 MW along with EDP, one of the biggest investors in wind farms in this country. The wind farms developed by Renovatio amount to over EUR530 million, EUR500 million of which developed with EDP. It usually takes EUR1.5 million to install one megawatt of capacity in a wind farm.
The investment in the plant in Satu Mare might reach about EUR300 million. The figure was calculated using the investment completed by OMV Petrom in Brazi (southern Romania) in a 860 MW power plant running on gas last year, which required EUR530 million. Therefore, the investment per megawatt installed in a gas-fired cogeneration plant stands at more than EUR0.6 million.
The company also applied for an environmental permit, which it got, according to a notice on the website of the National Environment Protection Agency posted on behalf of its Cluj—Napoca regional branch.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)