Econergy Romania and RGreen Invest launched Romania’s largest photovoltaic park with trackers at the second edition of Solar Open Day, an annual event organised by the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA). The investment of around 70 million euros at Părău (Brasov) means an installed capacity of over 90 MW located on 116 hectares in dual use.
About 140 thousand bifacial panels from Canadian Solar, Sungrow inverters and transformers and an Arctech Solar tracker system were used, allowing for about 30% higher efficiency than a system based on monofacial panels without tracking. Construction took place between March 2024 and May 2024 and involved a team of around 30 people.
The project was developed by the Brasov company Heliolux and then taken over by the Israeli investor Econergy and the French renewable energy investment fund RGreen Invest. The investment was backed with around 7 million euros through the NRRP, money that is yet to reach the investors. The construction work was carried out by EPCM10, an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company led by Patrício Felgueiras.
Before entering into commercial operation, the park will go through a test period, during which time the photovoltaic energy production will be fully taken over by Transelectrica at a price equivalent to the average day-ahead market price of the previous three months.
Attending the inauguration, Dragoș Roibu, Cabinet Director at the Ministry of Energy, said, “In 2012 there was a boom in renewable energy development, which came to a halt due to some unfortunate government decisions. Now we are witnessing a new boom, which will be reflected in the energy strategy: by 2035, we will have around 40% renewable energy in the national mix.”
For Econergy and RGreen Invest, new projects are coming up in a partnership that started in 2016. Econergy is an independent power producer (IPP) operating in six key markets: Romania, Italy, UK, Spain, Poland and Greece. In Romania, the company has a development capacity of 2 GW, of which 246 MW are in commercial operation and around 800 MW are in the final stages of development and construction. Around 198 MW of capacity is to be connected by the end of this year.
Econergy together with Nofar Energy inaugurated in October 2023 the 155 MW photovoltaic park in Rătești (Argeș), a 102 million euro investment that did not benefit from any support scheme.
Econergy boasts a diversified revenue stream, including electricity sales, development services, EPC and long-term asset management. Recently, the company agreed the sale of the approximately 214 MW Niculești project in Romania, at the Ready to Build stage, to a subsidiary of a leading Balkan conglomerate for around 33 million euros.
The projects developed by Econergy are among the largest in Romania in the new wave of investments in photovoltaics. This technology has the shortest implementation time “from the project stage to the moment of grid injection”, pointed out Andrei Manea, Executive Director of RPIA, on the occasion of Solar Open Day. “If the right conditions are created for us from a legislative point of view, we can build”, insisted Andrei Manea.
This year’s Solar Open Day was attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps and local authorities, business representatives and industry specialists. Students interested in the energy sector were also invited, as the photovoltaic projects that are being developed and will be developed in the near future need specialised manpower.