Coal and power group Complexul Energetic Oltenia (CE Oltenia) picked up aluminium producer Alro, following a competitive procedure, to jointly build an 850MW natural gas power plant in Işalniţa.

Alro summoned its shareholders on November 22 to endorse its participation in the project.

The project is at an advanced stage of authorization, and according to current estimates, the plant is supposed to supply electricity to the national power grid starting in 2026. In the same year, the first unit of the Cernavoda nuclear plant (700MW) will enter a two-year outage for mandatory upgrade works.

CE Oltenia will hold a 59.9% stake in the project company formed with Alro, corresponding to a contribution of EUR 65 mln, according to Forbes. Alro will hold the remaining 40.1% (EUR 43.5 mln).

The total value of the project is estimated at EUR 506 mln. The project is 50% financed by the European Union under a grant from the Modernization Fund. The Romanian Government will disburse the grant directly to the new special purpose vehicle (SPV) as the final beneficiary of the Modernization Fund, based on the financing contract that will be concluded between the SPV and the Ministry of Energy.

The project is part of the Restructuring Plan of EC Oltenia, which the European Commission approved in January 2022.

The other part of the project, namely the building of another gas power plant with a capacity of 450MW, is reportedly facing a deadlock as the shareholders of CE Oltenia, controlled by the state, decided to abandon the partnership with all prospective bidders out of which Tinmar energy trader was initially preferred, according to Economica.net.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Manuel Fernandes/Dreamstime.com)