Romanian oil and gas firm OMV Petrom said on Monday it will team up with state-owned lignite power producer CE Oltenia to build four photovoltaic parks that should provide electricity to the national power grid from 2024, according to Reuters.
The plan will cost around 400 million euros ($391.76 million), mostly from European Union funds, and the parks will have a combined installed capacity of around 450 MW, said Petrom, which is majority-controlled by Austria’s OMV.
Romania has committed to phasing out coal by 2032 and replacing it with gas, nuclear and renewable energy.
“The new parks, which will be built on the sites of former mining operations operated by CE Oltenia in southern Romania, will boost the country’s installed solar energy capacity by a third from around 1.4 GW currently,” stated OMV Petrom board member, Franck Neel.
The EU’s modernisation fund, a programme under the European Green Deal which supports 10 lower-income member states in upgrading their energy systems will provide 70% of the funds for the project and the two companies will provide the rest.
Romania had planned to restructure CE Oltenia by 2026 and replace its old capacity with solar power and gas, although Energy Minister Virgil Popescu has said the current energy crisis could push back the deadlines.
OMV Petrom aims to build over 1 GW of renewable power by 2030, including through partnerships.