ENERGO: Korean investor ready to invest $1.3bn in Romanian gas and solar power plant

Seven prospective investors have so far expressed interest in buying the 1.285-GW Mintia coal-fired thermal power plant (TPP), according to official documents quoted by Profit.ro.

The value of the coal-fired power plant in its current state is estimated at just over €100mn.

The power plant is the main asset of the Deva branch of the Hunedoara Energy Complex (CEH), the insolvent coal-fired energy producer fully controlled by the Romanian state through the Ministry of Energy.

A group of companies from South Korea, formed by AKEDA, Hyunday-Power Systems and BKB, is among the investors, media reported after group’s representatives visited the site this September.

The Korean investors want to build a 1,000-MW combined cycle gas plant, a project for which it estimates it will need to spend about $1.3bn, Siwoo Chung, CEO of BKB, said at a meeting with journalists, Economica.net reported.

He also said that at Mintia there is space for a photovoltaic (PV) park of about 110 MW.

The assets of the Deva branch of CEH were estimated at a market value of €101mn and a liquidation value of over €61mn.

Among the companies interested in buying Mintia is also GSP Power (owned by businessman Gabriel Comanescu), the Romanian branch of Turboenergy Power of the Republic of Moldova, Romanian company (without activity, established in 2018) Optimus-Rredac (controlled by an indigenous Moldovan), as well as two "big" companies from South Korea and Israel, according to statements from Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu.