MORE, the renewables subsidiary of Motor Oil Hellas, put a solar park with a battery energy storage system into trial operation northeast of Bucharest. It is its first renewables facility abroad and first hybrid power plant overall.
The Stâlpu 2 hybrid solar park, in Buzău county, has come online. MORE – Motor Oil Renewable Energy said the photovoltaic plant of 63 MW with 10 MW / 21 MWh in battery storage is in trial operation, set to deliver 76 GWh to the grid each year.
It is the firm’s first renewables facility outside Greece and the first hybrid power plant overall. MORE is a subsidiary of refiner Motor Oil Hellas, which is also involved in green hydrogen projects and carbon capture and storage.
The company said its new hybrid power plant’s output would be equivalent to the electricity needs of 32,000 households. The facility would also prevent the release of more than 26,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year, according to the update. It is an estimate of greenhouse gas emissions for the production of the same amount of electricity from fossil fuels.
Stâlpu 2 is in trial operation as well
The project firm behind Stâlpu 2, located northeast of Bucharest, is called Solar Energy Production. MORE owns 80%, and the rest is controlled by Alive Renewable Holding Limited, operating under Premier Energy Group.
MORE and Alive Renewable bought the Stâlpu 1 and 2 projects in 2024
Stâlpu 1, also in Buzău county, has entered trial production as well, Profit.ro reported a month ago. It consists of a 48 MW solar farm and a battery energy storage system (BESS) of 8 MW in operating power and 16 MWh in capacity. Alive Renewable has 90% in Development Power Solar Energy, the formal operator, while MORE has a 10% stake.
The Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) issued the so-called establishment authorizations for both hybrid power plants a year ago, enabling the start of construction.
EU grants covering more than one quarter of expenses for twin projects
Alive and MORE bought the two project firms – special purpose vehicles or SPVs – in 2024, for EUR 15.9 million. The combined investment was valued at RON 418.2 million, according to a report from May of last year, translating to almost EUR 83 million at the time.
The projects were eligible for up to RON 112.3 million in grants from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP or, in Romanian, PNRR). The mechanism is part of the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility.
