Electrica interested in CEZ assets in Romania – CEO

Romania’s state-owned power distribution and supply company Electrica is interested in buying the assets owned by Czech energy company CEZ in Romania, once they are put up for sale, Electrica CEO Georgeta Corina Popescu has said in an interview with Agerpres, Romania Insider reported.

In addition to eyeing CEZ’s assets in Romania, Electrica is also considering entering the energy production segment, Popescu said.

The sale of CEZ’s assets, however, seems to be a complex transaction, Popescu said. “[…] I do not know for now what is the privatization strategy CEZ will use: will it want to sell everything to a single company, will it make it under a competitive process, will it sell separately the business segments? We do not yet have any concrete information,” she added.

In Romania, the Czech company is involved in the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources, as well as in electricity distribution and sales.

CEZ’s assets in Romania include a 600 MW wind farm developed in a EUR 1.1 billion investment. The Fantanele-Cogealac wind farm in the region of Dobruja (Dobrogea) has 240 GE 2.5 MW turbines and produces 1.2 million kWh of electricity annually, according to CEZ Romania’s website.

Among other assets in Romania, CEZ also owns TMK Hydroenergy Power, which operates four hydropower plants (Grebla, Crainicel 1, Crainicel 2, and Breazova) with an installed capacity of around 22 MW.

CEZ in deal to sell Bulgarian assets for EUR 335 million

On June 21, CEZ Group signed a contract with holding company Eurohold Bulgaria for the sale of its assets in Bulgaria. Eurohold will pay EUR 335 million for CEZ’s Bulgarian assets.

The contract on the sale of CEZ’s assets in Bulgaria to Eurohold is subject to regulatory approvals of the Bulgarian Commission for the Protection of Competition (KZK) and the Bulgarian Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR).

CEZ’s previous attempt to sell its Bulgarian assets to Inercom Bulgaria did not receive regulatory approval.

In Bulgaria, the CEZ group distributes and sells electricity in the western part of the country and generates electricity, mostly in a coal-fired power plant, according to its website.

CEZ’s assets in Bulgaria, subject to the sale, comprise power utility CEZ Distribution Bulgaria, power supplier CEZ Electro Bulgaria, licensed electricity trader CEZ Trade Bulgaria, IT services company CEZ ICT Bulgaria, solar park Free Energy Project Oreshetz, biomass-fired power plant Bara Group and CEZ Bulgaria.