The natural gas and electricity supplier Premier Energy intends to increase its renewable energy production capacity in Romania by 50% in the next two to three years, up to 1.5 GW, and in parallel to continue investing in the Republic of Moldova, have the directors of the Bucharest-based company told Reuters.

Currently, Premier Energy, a company controlled by the Czech holding company Emma Capital, has green projects in Romania with a capacity of 1,000 MW, projects that are owned, managed or under development and which are equally divided between wind projects and photovoltaics.

The company built a 10 MW photovoltaic park in the Republic of Moldova last year and wants to add another 20 MW in 2024. Premier Energy is the third largest gas distributor in Romania and the largest supplier and distributor of electricity in the Republic of Moldova.

“The biggest increase is in the field of electricity production and supply. And this will continue to be an area on which we will focus in terms of growth”, said Premier Energy’s financial director, Peter Stohr, according to Agerpres.

Romania wants to reduce its carbon emissions in order to meet the EU’s climate goals and strengthen its energy security, a problem that became more acute after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As an EU member country, Romania has committed to eliminate coal by 2032, and to replace it with natural gas, nuclear energy and renewable energy.

Premier Energy managing director Jose Gar said the lack of PPAs (long-term power purchase contracts) with commercial consumers is one of the main challenges to the ability of renewable project developers to obtain financing from banks , before the construction of the facilities.

Premier Energy started operating in Romania more than a decade ago and its revenues have grown from 13 million euros to almost 900 million euros in 2023, having in the meantime completed a series of 25 acquisitions.

“We are optimistic about the company’s growth prospects so we could analyze a diversification of financing needs,” said CFO Peter Stohr, when asked if Premier Energy is considering a listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in the long term short.

Premier Energy announced, at the end of last year, that it acquired the company CEZ Vânzare, owned by Macquarie Asset Management, with a portfolio of 1.4 million customers. The Competition Council is analyzing the transaction.