UK developer acquires Europe's largest PV project

British independent power producer Rezolv Energy has acquired the late-stage development rights for a 1044MW solar project in Romania's Arad county. The Eastern European country is gearing up to launch a contract for difference (CfD) scheme early next year to install 3.5GW of solar and wind power

British firm Rezolv Energy has agreed to buy a 1044MW solar project from Romanian developer Monsson.

The project is located in Arad County in western Romania and is currently in the late development stage. Rezolv Energy is seeking technology solutions and debt financing. The project is expected to start construction early next year and will be commissioned in 2025. But the company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Rezolv Energy was founded in August with a 500 million euro ($487.8 million) investment from sustainable infrastructure investor Actis. The company said at the time of its establishment that it planned to provide commercial and industrial users and other off-takers with unsubsidized clean energy at long-term stable prices in central and southeastern Europe. The company also announced that it had signed an agreement to develop two wind power projects with a total installed capacity of 1GW.

The Romanian solar market is about to take off, and the proposed CFD program will drive growth. The scheme guarantees a minimum electricity price and replaces the previous green certificate scheme.

Mihai Balan, executive director of the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA), told pv magazine: “According to the Romanian National Recovery and Recovery Plan (NRRP), in the first round of CFDs, no less than 1,500MW of PV capacity is expected to be installed in the second half of 2023. , while in the second round in the first half of 2025, 2000MW of photovoltaic systems will be installed.”

According to a guideline published in 2020, the Romanian government is working with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to develop the scheme, with a planned investment of 125 million euros per year.

“By 2026, we will start operating the first PV systems supported by the program, a milestone in Romania’s National Recovery and Recovery Plan (NRRP),” Balan said. plan, but given the current state of the energy market and the fact that we are steadily moving towards a regulated market, it is safe to say that we will see more details as early as early 2023.”

Romanian Energy Minister Virgil Popescu told Reuters earlier this year that the plan would promote "an explosion in the development of renewable energy." He noted, however, that contracts for difference (CfD) would also be used "to support traditional energy sources such as nuclear power".

The Romanian PV market is bright due to a number of factors that have been actively developed recently. These include the lifting of a nearly 10-year-old ban on power purchase agreements, a 1:1 quantitative compensation for prosumers with installed capacity up to 200kW, and a tender for the deployment of the country’s first 950MW renewable energy facility.

The RPIA has responded by raising its expectations to more than 3 GW of new renewable energy installed by 2026, of which about 2 GW of photovoltaic systems are planned.

"More than 65 percent of that electricity generation will come from PV systems due to the shorter deployment time frame and our obligation to connect these PV systems to the grid by 2024," Balan said earlier this year.

By 2030, Romania can receive more than 16 billion euros in economic recovery and modernization funds from the EU for comprehensive reforms in its energy sector. The Romanian government has allocated 457.7 million euros for a 950MW renewable energy procurement campaign launched in March this year for wind and photovoltaic systems, possibly with energy storage.

Romania has committed to phasing out coal-fired power generation by 2032 and replacing it with nuclear power, natural gas and renewables. The company also said it will restructure CE Oltenia, which mainly burns lignite-fired power, by 2026 and replace its previous generation facilities with a 725MW photovoltaic system and several natural gas facilities.

Source: www.pv-magazine.com