Enery to start building Europe’s largest solar power plant in Romania

Austria-based Enery is preparing to begin construction works early next year on a photovoltaic facility of 750 MW in peak capacity just outside of Bucharest. It would currently be Europe’s largest solar power plant. A few other megaprojects are underway, too, but the Ogrezeni facility is planned with a battery energy storage system that would match its grid connection capacity.

Enery, which operates a range of wind, photovoltaic and small hydropower plants and battery storage across Romania, has only a few final steps before the start of construction of a giant solar farm in Giurgiu county, the company’s Head of Romania Liviu Gavrilă revealed to Profit.ro. The launch of the works is due early next year, he added.

With its 750 MW in peak capacity, the solar park in Ogrezeni, just west of the capital Bucharest, would be Europe’s largest at this moment. The company obtained a grid connection approval for 534 MW in 2023, the article adds.

Europe’s largest PV plant is Witznitz in Germany’s east. It has 650 MW in peak capacity. There is also an 850 MW cluster of 17 units in Spain, called Escatrón-Chiprana-Samper Solar Farm.

If the Asian part of Turkey is included, Kalyon Karapınar is at the top of the list. It has 1.35 GW in peak capacity and a 1 GW grid connection. Already one of the largest in the world outside China, the solar park is due for expansion into a complex of 1.85 GW in peak capacity.

Romania hosting two projects for Europe’s largest solar parks

Of note, Rezolv Energy and Monsson are about to build a solar farm in northwestern Romania of 1.04 GW in peak capacity. The site is in the communes of Pilu and Grăniceri in Arad. The Dama Solar system is envisaged with a battery energy storage system (BESS) of 500 MW.

But Austria-based Enery is planning a BESS with 534 MW in operating power, matching the grid connection. The unit would have a two-hour duration, translating to a storage capacity of 1.07 GWh.

Both Ogrezeni and Dama Solar are planned as hybrid power plants, with giant batteries

Both Dama Solar and Ogrezeni, also known as Baboia Solar Plant, won state support at Romania’s second solar power auction.

Spanish Iberdrola is preparing a bigger project, Fernando Pessoa in Portugal, though it has suffered delays over environmental concerns and disputed permits.

Enery to equip all its power plants in country with battery storage

Some negotiations remain to be completed before the groundbreaking, Gavrilă said. Enery is targeting a commercial operations date in the fourth quarter of 2027. In comparison, Dama Solar is scheduled to come online in the third quarter of 2028.

Enery has completed a PV plant of 54 MW in Titu, Dâmbovița county. The company is preparing it for a test run. It has 167 MW in operation in Romania, of which the Sărmășag solar park accounts for 51.4 MW in peak capacity.

“We want to install batteries for all our production capacities in Romania. But we are also active in the area of ​​stand-alone storage installations,” Gavrilă asserted.

In addition, the company manages electricity supply for others as a balance responsible party, using the SmartPulse platform.