Competition body clears sale of 108MW PV park to Hidroelectrica

Romania's Competition Council approved the transaction by which state-owned power producer Hidroelectrica will take over the two companies that own and operate the 108MW wind farm Crucea Nord in Dobrogea, Agerpresreported.

Developed by the German group Steag and commissioned in 2014, the Crucea wind farm is one of the most modern and best-maintained onshore wind farms in Romania.

Crucea Wind Farm, the company that owns the wind farm, had a negative net worth of about RON 335 mln (EUR 72 mln) as its debts (RON 855 mln) were higher than the value of its assets (RON 535 mln), according to data presented by Profit.ro.

In 2019, the company reported a net profit of RON 139 mln (EUR 28.6 mln) after it had accumulated losses of over RON 591 mln (EUR 120 mln) in the period 2009-2018.

Steag Energie Romania, the second subsidiary targeted for acquisition by Hidroelectrica, provides technical and commercial operation services for the wind farm. It had a net profit of RON 1.72 mln and a turnover of over RON 6 mln in 2019.

The Crucea PV farm was developed by Monsson Group, which sold it as a project to Steag in 2012. The investment of about EUR 200 mln was partly financed by a EUR 76 mln loan from the EBRD and Erste Bank.

(Photo: Pixabay)