Electrica to invest €300 mln in energy production

State-owned electricity distributor Electrica plans to enter the energy production market with investments worth some €300 million. The company is to invest in the Cernavoda nuclear plant, in aeolian and hydro energy, and biomass.

The largest investment, amounting to some €200 mln, is to be made in the Cernavoda plant, where two new reactors, 3 and 4, are being built. The investment, however, will go into effect only after the company is accepted as a Cernavoda shareholder. Negotiations with investors interested in the nuclear plant are to begin this October. Electrica applied for membership last year.
The company is also preparing a €60 mln investment for aeolian turbines, with installed power totaling 50 MW. The cost of one MW is €1.2 mln, according to Electrica’s General Manager, Corneliu Stan. He declined to provide details on the location of the turbines, due to “strategic” concerns. However, Stan recently said Electrica was discussing two partnerships with foreign energy producers to build aeolian power plants in the southern Dobrogea area. The same area is targeted by Italian group Enel, owner of former state-owned power distributors Electrica Banat and Electrica Dobrogea, and future owner of Electrica Muntenia Sud. 

Stan added that two micro-hydro power plants are to be built. “If [state-owned energy producer] Hidroelectrica postpones the sale of its micro-plants, we are planning to build more,” he said. The company’s planned investment in hydro energy amounts to €20 mln.

Funds for the scheduled investments are to be obtained from bank loans and the privatization of Electrica branches. If the company is not approved to become one of Cernavoda reactors 3 and 4 investors, Electrica plans to focus on wind and thermo energy. “We have several investment options,” Stan added.

Electrica currently has three energy supply and distribution branches - Muntenia Nord, Transilvania Sud and Transilvania Nord - and a maintenance branch, Electrica Serv. In H1, the company posted net sales worth €912 mln, 6 percent higher year-on-year.