Rezolv Energy advances projects for biggest solar power plants in Bulgaria, Romania

Rezolv Energy obtained regulatory clearance for a 229 MW solar power project, which would be the largest in Bulgaria at the moment. In addition, the company’s minority partner in an investment in Romania bought the land for their photovoltaic plant under construction, planned to reach a stunning 1.06 GW.

Renewables developer Rezolv Energy was established in August 2020, backed by EUR 500 million from Actis, a global investor in sustainable infrastructure. The Prague-based company is focused on investments in Central and South Eastern Europe. Rezolv has just passed important milestones in photovoltaic projects set to become the largest in Bulgaria and Romania, while the latter would also currently have the highest capacity in Europe!

Solar power remains the main energy transition factor of countries throughout the world. Last year the two Balkan countries added more than 1 GW each for the first time.

Rezolv plans to start construction in Silistra in Bulgaria in coming months

In July, Rezolv Energy said that it acquired the rights for the St. George project in Silistra municipality in northeastern Bulgaria. Now it also obtained approval for the business plan as well as the license from the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, according to the update.

The plan is to install 229 MW for an average annual output of 313 GWh. The 165-hectare site is on the decommissioned Silistra airport.

St. George is scheduled for commissioning in the second quarter of 2025

The project is “financially viable and the owner has the necessary financing capabilities to complete it, the regulatory body concluded. The company expects construction to begin in the coming months and the commissioning in the second quarter of 2025. Rezolv revealed that it intends to sell power to commercial and industrial users via long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs)

“These are exciting times in Bulgaria. The ‘pause’ button was pushed on new renewables capacity for a decade leading up to 2022, but the energy transition is now well underway. Solar capacity increased by more than 80% last year, and corporate demand for clean power is developing just as quickly. Very large-scale projects like St. George will take the transition to the next level,” Chief Executive Officer Alastair Hammond said.

Rezolv added that it has well over 2 GW of clean energy capacity being prepared for construction.

Dama Solar solar farm of 1.06 GW is under construction

In neighboring Romania, where the solar power boom is more evenly spread than in Bulgaria across all segments from household prosumers to fossil fuel giants investing in decarbonization, Rezolv is building a 1.06 GW PV plant, Profit.ro reported. The location of the Dama Solar facility is in Arad, near the border with Hungary, spanning over a thousand hectares.

On its website, the company said the capacity would be 1.04 GW. Rezolv pointed out that it has more than 1 GW of wind power under construction in Romania, too. In Buzau county, its VIFOR project is for 450 MW, compared to the 600 MW investment called Dunarea East and West. Consisting of two parts and developed in partnership with Low Carbon, it is located in the communes of Adamclisi and Deleni near Constanța.

Monsson bought the agricultural firm that owns the land for Dama Solar

The media outlet wrote, citing official data, that Monsson, the minority partner in Dama Solar, bought the company that owned the land. Their project firm West Power Investments already held usage rights for 33 years since 2021.

Monsson is part of Monsson Group, controlled by Swedish-Monégasque businessman Emanuel Muntmark. In late 2022, Rezolv Energy acquired over 90% of West Power Investments, which Muntmark established in 2020 with three Romanian co-founders.

With the land purchase, Monsson is now renting it to the project firm, the article adds. The business that it acquired, Agricola Grăniceri Managing, is headquartered in Arad.

Several projects racing to become biggest PV parks in two Balkan countries

On the other hand, the race for the top position among PV facilities in both countries is actually ongoing and huge projects keep piling up.

Already under construction, the solar power segment of the Tenevo hybrid power project in Bulgaria is envisaged at 238 MW in peak capacity. Another PV system, Apriltsi in Pazardzhik, is planned for expansion to 400 MW.

German company Profine Energy proposed to install a floating solar power plant of 500 MW to 800 MW on the Ogosta artificial lake in northwestern Bulgaria. Initially, it considered as much as 1.5 GW.

In Romania, state-owned hydropower plant operator Hidroelectrica recently ran into an obstacle, apparently an administrative one, in the development of its 1.5 GW solar power project in the Oltenia province. The Rătești PV plant, commissioned with 154.7 MW in peak capacity late last year, is the largest in the country. Its owners are Nofar Energy and Econergy.