ENERGO: Romania’s CE Oltenia to build 850-MW gas-fired power plant with Alro

The coal and power group Complexul Energetic Oltenia (CE Oltenia) has picked Alro aluminium producer, following a competitive procedure, to jointly build an 850-MW natural gas power plant in Işalniţa, according to News.ro.

The project is at an advanced stage of authorisation – Alro already summoned its shareholders to endorse its participation in the project on November 22 – and, according to current estimates, the plant is supposed to supply electricity to the national power grid starting in 2026.

In the same year, the first unit of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant (700-MW) will enter a two-year outage for mandatory upgrade works.

CE Oltenia will hold a 59.9% stake in the project company formed with Alro, corresponding to a contribution of €65mn, according to Forbes. Alro will hold the remaining 40.1% (€43.5mn).

The total value of the project is estimated at €506mn.

The project is 50% financed by the European Union under a grant from the Modernisation Fund. The Romanian government will disburse the grant directly to the new special purpose vehicle (SPV), as the final beneficiary of the Modernisation Fund, based on the financing contract that will be concluded between the SPV and the Ministry of Energy.