EnerCap Power Fund buys into 80MW wind farm project in South - East Romania

Construction work is about to start on a new wind farm project in Constanţa country, South-Eastern Romania, which has attracted around EUR 90 million in funding facilities. The 80MW Chirnogeni wind farm is being developed with funding from project leader EP Global Energy (20 percent), the Marguerite Fund (50 percent) and the EnerCap Power Fund, which has just announced the acquisition of 30 percent stake in the project. Debt facilities are provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and three of EnerCap's existing lenders, Erste Group, ING Bank and UniCredit Bank Austria.

The project, located between the Chirnogeni and Independenţa municipalities in Constanta county, will include 32 2.5MW wind turbine to provide the 80MW capacity. Commercial operations at the wind farm will being in “early 2014,” according to EnerCap Power Fund. EnerCap partner Alastair Hammond said that EnerCap will be involved in the building of the wind farm. “We also have an active role in overseeing construction of this project [...],” said Hammond. Founded in 2007 and based in Prague, Czech Republic, EnerCap Capital Partners manages the EnerCap Power Fund, which is a EUR 98 million renewable energy 10 year growth/capital gains fund for Central and Eastern Europe. The EnerCap Power fund is now fully committed and has as major investors the EBRD and the European Investment Bank (EIB). With the Romanian project, EnerCap has five wind investments totaling 320MW capacity sited in Poland, the Czech Republic and Croatia. Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com