OMV Petrom acquires photovoltaic projects in Romania

Romanian oil and gas company OMV Petrom has purchased a 50% stake from Renovatio in three photovoltaic projects. Their overall capacity is 130 MW. The company also received operating permits for solar power projects of a combined 710 MW.

The completion of the transactions is expected in the second part of 2024, subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions, OMV Petrom said and added that the parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

The new projects already secured access to the national power transmission grid. The company said the transaction complements one announced earlier this year, for the acquisition of a 50% stake in a firm called Electrocentrale Borzești, which owns renewable electricity projects for approximately 1 GW in total.

Verchere: About a third of the EUR 11 billion in investments by 2030 will be allocated to low- and zero-carbon projects

The projects will be developed, built, and operated in partnership with Renovatio. The two partners are envisaged to run a total joint capacity of over 1.1 GW by 2030.

Christina Verchere, CEO of OMV Petrom, said projects that reduce the carbon footprint of the company and its customers are the centerpiece of its strategy. “About a third of the EUR 11 billion in investments by 2030 will be allocated to low- and zero-carbon projects,” she stressed.

According to Franck Neel, member of the executive board responsible for gas and power, partnerships like with Renovatio are very important for accelerating the energy transition.”By combining our strengths we create higher impact overall and contribute to the change for a cleaner environment,” he said.

Aurel Arion, CEO of Renovatio, claimed that the green energy the power plants in its project portfolio would produce is an essential step toward a future aligned with global environmental objectives.

Permits for PV facilities wit a capacity of 710 MW

OMV Petrom has also received operating permits for solar power projects with a total capacity of 710 MW from the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), Economica.net reported.

The projects were bought last year from Jantzen Renewables.

If everything goes according to the plan, the PV facilities should be online in 2026.

To get an operating permit, the project developer must, among other things, prove that it has secured the financing for the investment.

OMV Petrom targets 1 GW of solar power capacity by 2030.