The Society for the Administration of Energy Participations (SAPE) reconfirms its development strategy and inaugurates the photovoltaic park Dârvari 2, in the town of Valea Călugărească (Prahova county).
“SAPE has proposed a new strategy, which reflects the company’s growth plans and which aims to continue the activity of managing the state’s holdings in energy companies, but also the development in the field of electricity production and storage. Our investment vision is long-term. We are pursuing a sustainable development of the company, by achieving a balanced energy mix of production – renewables and natural gas -, together with storage. SAPE’s objective is to become an important player not only on the energy market in Romania, but also in the region, with an installed capacity from wind and photovoltaic sources of 100-150 MW and from natural gas of 80 MW by the year 2026, but also storage – in batteries (as we have here, in Dârvari), using hydrogen, through the S.A.P.E. project. Hydrogen 10, and, first of all, through our most complex project, the pumped-storage hydropower plant, Tarnița – Lăpuștești.
“In the presence of Mr. Sebastian Burduja, the Minister of Energy, Mr. Gabriel Andronache, the vice-president of ANRE, Mr. Dumitru Nancu, the president of the Supervisory Board of SAPE S.A., and Mrs. Ioana Neagu, the mayor of Dârvari, we commercially inaugurate the Dârvari 2 photovoltaic park, production and storage of renewable energy, the first investment made from PNRR funds of an energy company owned by the Romanian state. We will continue to build or take over projects in renewable energy production, build storage capacity, in batteries, using hydrogen or water power. We are determined to become a model in the energy transition, capitalizing on the opportunities in the market,” said Bogdan Nicolae Stănescu, President of the SAPE Directorate.
The Dârvari 2 photovoltaic park represents an investment of almost 35 million lei, of which approximately 7.5 million lei represent non-refundable funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). The execution contract for “Electricity production station through photovoltaic panels and electricity transmission network in the national system – CEF 4.9995 MW” was signed at the end of August 2023, at the beginning of 2024 the photovoltaic park entered trials, and on 5 July became commercial. In addition to production, the park also has a battery energy storage system with a capacity of 1 MW.
The “turnkey” work was executed by the association SC General Me.El Electric SRL and SC Electro-Alfa International SRL, and the site manager was Popp & Asociații Management.
SAPE also owns two wind farms, CEE Horia (Constanța county), with a capacity of 7.5 MW, and CEE Curcubăta (Alba county), with a capacity of 15 MW, and a photovoltaic park, Dârvari 1, in com Valea Călugărească, with a capacity of 5 MW.
Also, recently, the Titan Power project was started, through which a gas-fired, high-efficiency cogeneration plant will be built in Bucharest. Also, SAPE is in full evaluation of the bids submitted to the auction for the realization of the feasibility study and the technical-economic documentation for the construction of the Tarnița-Lăpușteşti hydropower plant.
“I note, with joy, that SAPE specializes in firsts: the first photovoltaic park with storage completed in record time by a company of the Romanian state, from PNRR funds, here in Dârvari. Other firsts: the start of the Tarnița project by submitting bids to the public auction for the realization of the feasibility study; the Hydrogen project – which will be financed either through PNRR or through development funds, and, last but not least, the Titan Power High Efficiency Cogeneration plant, the first plant built from scratch in Bucharest, after 15 years. Investments in the energy sector boost the national economy. You know I like statistics, I looked at the statistics of the National Bank: in the last 12 months, from June 2023, foreign direct investments totaled 5.8 billion euros. The contracts financed from non-refundable funds for the energy sector that we signed in the last year, total 13.6 billion euros. That is more than double the foreign direct investments,” added Sebastian Burduja, Minister of Energy.
“It is an honor and a pleasure to be here at this inauguration. I congratulate the SAPE team for this investment, the first capacity in the country with operational production and storage at once. We want other companies to follow SAPE’s example and implement such projects. I congratulate you once again”, Gabriel Andronache, vice-president of ANRE, said at the same time.