Romania Wind Energy Investing

Romania is set to double its wind capacity this year due to EU-approved incentives for renewable energy.

As reported in Bloomberg News, wind power capacity could surge to as much as 2,100 MW by the end of the year, a 1,100 MW increase from last year.

Ion Lungu, the head of CEZ AS and president of the Association of Electricity Suppliers in Romania, believes that “Romania can support an installed capacity of about 3,500 MW of wind power, considering its current infrastructure and backup capacity…that may increase if additional investments are made and new generation units become operational.”

Romania has recently become an attractive location for renewable energy investors, including Iberdrola SA, Portugal’s EDP, Germany’s EON AG and Italy’s Enel SA. The hope is to be able to attract $6.3 billion in wind investments through 2020 under the current incentive program.

Right now, the lion’s share of Romania’s wind energy investment belongs to the Czech company CEZ. The company is currently working on an almost $2 billion dollar wind farm in the Constanta region near the Black Sea. So far, 388 megawatts are operational with the entire 600 MW capacity scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

Romania has quite a few goings on in terms of its renewable energy industry. Right now, the nation is offering two “green certificates” with a value of $34 to $70 for each mWh of energy produced from wind. In addition, the state-owned grid operator Transelectrica SA has announced plans to invest a whopping $219 million to upgrade its outdated grid to help keep accommodate the new wind output.