EBRD moots EUR 68 mln loan to STEAG for Romanian wind farm

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering providing a EUR 68 million loan to Germany’s STEAG, the electricity provider, which plans to build a 108MW wind farm in the Dobrogea region of Romania.

The wind requires farm up to EUR 192 million in investments and the remaining funding will be provided by STEAG and other lenders. A consortium of seven municipal utilities owns a 51 percent stake in STEAG, while Evonik Industries controls the rest.

STEAG bought the Crucea North wind farm project last year from Romanian wind energy developer Monsson Group.

“Supporting a new private entrant in the market will promote private sector investment in Romania’s energy sector and help the country to meet EU green energy targets,” said the EBRD in a statement.

The wind project will generate revenues by selling electricity of the OPCOM day-ahead market and green certificates on the specialized market.

STEAG is the first big player that resumes wind investments following the government’s decision to change the incentives system for some renewable generators starting July.

Wind producers will have to manage with one green certificate, while the second one will be recovered starting January 2018. This puts the wind producers in a difficult positions as up to two thirds of any farm’s revenues is generated by trading the certificates, according to experts.

The wind sector has been booming in the last four years on the back of a generous support scheme, reaching 2,163MW of incentivized wind capacities by June, according to grid operator Transelectrica.

Ovidiu Posirca