DTEK puts wind farm, solar park into operation in Romania

Wind power plant Ruginoasa and photovoltaic park Glodeni have started delivering electricity to the transmission grid in Romania, DTEK said. They have 113 MW in combined capacity. The utility based in Ukraine said it has more projects underway in the European Union.

DTEK Group has commissioned its first two power plants in Romania and outside its home market. The 60 MW Ruginoasa wind farm was completed in November while solar park Glodeni, of 53 MW in peak capacity, started delivering electricity on January 5.

They are the first in an EU portfolio that will span Italy, Poland, Romania and Croatia, the Ukrainian company said. It is developing it through its wholly-owned subsidiary DTEK Renewables International (DRI), based in the Netherlands. The goal is to reach 5 GW in installed capacity in the EU by 2030, the announcement adds.

DTEK built Romania’s only sizeable wind farm in past year

Ruginoasa, in Iași county in the northeast, is the only sizable wind power plant completed in Romania in the past year. The facility features 10 Vestas V162-6.0 MW turbines. DTEK valued the investment at EUR 43 million.

Construction works commenced in March, at the same time as for the Glodeni photovoltaic unit. It is located in Mureș county in Transylvania. Total investment is EUR 107 million, according to the developer, controlled by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov.

Together the two will generate 225 GWh per year, enough to supply more than 58,500 homes, DTEK added.

“Romania has embarked on building an energy system that is green, affordable, and secure, demonstrating the country’s ambition in this sector, honoring our partnership with the European Union’s Green Deal, and reducing our CO2 emissions long-term. We are delighted to have such important investments and investors in Romania, and we underline once more our key message for all companies in the global energy sector: come on over, Romania is open for business,” Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja stated.

Warzone wind power plant envisaged for expansion to 500 MW

This moment marks a further step forward in the integration of Europe’s and Ukraine’s energy systems as Ukraine moves towards EU accession, Chief Executive Officer of DTEK Maxim Timchenko said.

The company is the largest producer of renewable energy in Ukraine, with 1.1 GW of installed capacity.

DTEK Group and Vestas signed a memorandum of understanding in December to complete the Tyligulska (Tylihulska) wind farm. The project is supported by the European Commission and the governments of Ukraine and Denmark.

The facility is envisaged to reach 498 MW, which would make it the largest in the country. DTEK said it is worth more than EUR 650 million.

Investment in the Tyligulska wind power plant in Ukraine is valued at over EUR 650 million in total

Tyligulska’s second stage is set to consist of 64 wind turbines with 384 MW in total. The first stage, with a capacity of 114 MW and 19 machines, was commissioned in May. DTEK has pointed out it is the world’s first wind farm built during a war.

The site is near the Black Sea in the Mykolaiv oblast, 85 kilometers from the Moldovan border. Full-scale annual output is estimated at 1.7 TWh, equivalent to the electricity demand of 900,000 local households.

DTEK said last month it would start construction in the second quarter, expecting to complete it by the end of 2025. It revealed that it would begin connecting new turbines before the end of this year. The second phase is worth EUR 450 million.

The group includes commodity trading firm and energy supplier D.Trading, based in Zug, Switzerland. DTEK is also active in coal mining, natural gas and the operation of thermal power plants, electricity distribution, energy-efficiency services and high-speed charging stations for electric vehicles.

Growth in number of utility-scale PV plants in Romania is accelerating

Motivated by legal reforms and the European Union’s funding, renewable energy projects have flooded Romania over the last few years. Most are for photovoltaics, and numerous utility-scale units have lately been coming online.

The country apparently increased the overall capacity in the sector by a stunning 1.6 GW last year, more than doubling it. Interestingly, prosumers – households, institutions and firms – accounted for 1.1 GW. It puts the category at the forefront of the energy transition and decarbonization in Romania.