Burduja: First wind farms in Romania’s Black Sea in 2027-2028

The first wind farms in Romania’s part of the Black Sea are expected in 2027-2028, Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja said.

The Romanian Ministry of Energy launched on July 17 a 30-day public consultation on a draft law on the requirements for the development and procurement of offshore wind energy projects. It has proposed to auction 3 GW of offshore wind under a contract-for-difference (CfD) scheme.

Sebastian Burduja, who was appointed as minister in June, told Agerpres that the law is expected to be adopted in autumn. The move would be followed by the selection of zones and the preparation of environmental and security rules for the deployment of the wind farms.

The World Bank has estimated Romania’s offshore potential at 75 GW

The preparation will take a while and include the National Authority for Mineral Resources, he said and added that the Black Sea has become a complicated region.

Nevertheless, he forecasted that the first wind turbines would come online by 2027 or 2028.

The World Bank, in his words, has estimated Romania’s offshore potential at 75 GW. It will never be fully exploited, but 10 GW to 15 GW could be within the next 10-15 years, Burduja said.

A startup will install a floating wind turbine off the Bulgarian coast

Of note, in February last year, Germany-based wpd announced plans to install offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 1,900 MW, which could be the first of their kind in Romania and the Black Sea. In the meantime, it sold its offshore wind business to Global Infrastructure Partners.

In February this year, renewable energy company Eolink announced it would install a 5 MW floating wind turbine off the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.

The World Bank estimated the Black Sea offshore wind technical potential at 435 GW last year, of which 269 GW could be fixed-bottom turbines and the remaining 166 GW could be floating.

The Bulgarian territorial waters of the Black Sea offer 116 GW of technical wind potential.