Rehabilitated landfill in Romania to host municipal solar power plant

The Municipality of Sibiu is developing a project for Romania’s first solar power plant on a rehabilitated landfill. It would use the electricity for its public lighting system.

Toxic smoke used to rise over the Remetea landfill, but for the past nine years the authorities have been covering it with vegetation. The Municipality of Sibiu went further, catching the municipal solar power wave in Romania, fueled by European grants. The location will be used for a photovoltaic park on 10.9 hectares.

It used to be the largest municipal landfill in the county. The facility in the Dealul Gușteriței area is in Transylvania, in central Romania. The city of Sibiu has 134,000 inhabitants, and twice as many in its metropolitan area.

City counts on EU’s Modernisation Fund

Last month the municipality requested an environmental permit from the county authorities. It revealed that it aims to tap on the European Union’s Modernisation Fund.

Solar panels would occupy 3.2 hectares, project documentation reveals. Sibiu opted for modules of 450 W each, with a total peak capacity of 4.8 MW. The connection to the grid, in alternating current terms, is seen at 4.5 MW.

The investment is estimated at up to EUR 3 million and the municipality claimed it would complete it next year. It said it would use the electricity for the public lighting system. The expected annual output is 6 GWh. The ground would need to be reinforced so that the arrays would hold.

Similarly, the Municipality of Probištip in North Macedonia is looking for an investor that would remediate a dangerous mining tailings dump and build a solar power plant on the site.

Sibiu County working on its own solar power plant project

At the same time, Sibiu County is planning its own solar power plant. In Romania, all levels of administration can become prosumers – generate renewable electricity for self-consumption. The project was launched with an ambition to cover at least a part of the power demand of county buildings such as educational institutions and healthcare centers, including assisted living facilities.

The local government applied for an approval from its own county agency. It cut the original proposal in half to 2.2 MW in peak capacity. The land, in the Ațel commune, is owned by the county.