CEZ to consolidate presence in Romania, cancels wind park stake sale

Czech electricity group CEZ plans to stabilize and strengthen its operations in Romania and has no intention of exiting the market, but it doesn’t plan any major acquisition either. “I strongly believe in Romania’s energy market because it has high potential and it’s an emerging market which offers lots of opportunities,” said Martin Zmelik, CEZ Romania’s new general manager. He added than CEZ stopped its search for an investor to take over a minority stake in the group’s renewables business in Romania, according to Agerpres. CEZ will keep its wind park in Dobrogea, near the villages of Fantanele and Cogealac, which is the largest in Romania, with a capacity of 600 MW. CEZ invested some EUR 1.1 billion in the wind park. Tomis Team SRL, the firm which operates the wind park, made a net profit of EUR 30.7 million and a turnover of EUR 119 million, from selling the energy produced but also the green certificates received from the state. The Romanian Government decided last year to reduce the support scheme for renewables, which was at that time one of the most generous in the European Union, by cutting the number of green certificates that renewable energy producers get for each MWh of electricity they produce. This determined the producers to adjust their strategies. CEZ also owns the electricity distribution company that powers seven counties in Southern Romania, which it bought from the state in 2005. CEZ Distributie Oltenia had a turnover of EUR 183 million last year. Electricity supply company CEZ Vanzare Oltenia had a turnover of EUR 354 million. editor@romania-insider.com