CE Oltenia’s 59.9% stake in the share capital represents a contribution of 65 million euros, the company announced in a press release. The selected investor, ALRO SA, will participate with a 40.1% stake in the share capital, representing a contribution of more than 43.5 million euros.

The total value of the project is estimated at 506 million euros. The project has also received funding from the Modernisation Fund and the new joint venture (SPV) will benefit from a grant of 50% of the project. The Romanian Government will pay these amounts directly to the new SPV, as the final beneficiary of the Modernisation Fund, on the basis of the financing contract to be concluded between the SPV and the Ministry of Energy. The project will also benefit from bank financing for which CE Oltenia mandated a major commercial bank to act as syndication arranger in August 2022.

The deadline for commissioning the gas-fired power plant in Ișalnița is 2026. It will replace units 7 and 8, both coal-fired, with a capacity of 315 MW.

ALRO – one of the largest vertically integrated aluminum producers by capacity in Europe – has been selected following an extensive selection process organized by CE Oltenia to jointly build the 850 MW gas-fired power plant at Ișalnița. The association is to be approved by the corporate bodies of the two companies.

The Ișalnița project is part of the Restructuring Plan of CE Oltenia, which was approved by the European Commission in January 2022 and which foresees, among other things, the construction of 2 gas-fired power plants and 8 photovoltaic parks in order to diversify the energy mix and transition to less polluting energy sources, as well as to restore the viability of the company.