MET Group has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that holds all rights around the solar project. The planned solar plant is located near Bucharest in the south of Romania and is expected to produce around 82 GWh of solar power annually, equivalent to the average annual consumption of 50,000 households. Commissioning is scheduled for 2024.
Romania is the fourth country in which MET Group has acquired renewable energy projects since the beginning of the year, after Italy, Spain and Poland. The company previously announced the acquisition of a 213 MWp solar project pipeline in Italy, a 50 MWp construction-ready solar project in Spain and a 60 MWp solar project in Poland. The projects in Italy are part of Keppel MET Renewables AG, a newly formed joint venture with strategic partner Keppel Infrastructure, which the two companies will use to implement renewable energy projects in Western Europe.
First solar project of MET Group in Romania
The Romanian solar project fits well with MET Group's strategy in terms of expanding its renewable energy portfolio in Europe and represents an important milestone in achieving the Group's growth target in this area. MET Group's Green Assets Division aims to build a renewable energy portfolio with an installed capacity of 2 GW by 2026 and play an active role in the energy transition in Europe.
In Romania, MET Group has been present for over 13 years through its subsidiary MET Romania Energy. The company supplies electricity and natural gas to households and industry and offers customers comprehensive energy services.
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Christian Hürlimann, Renewables CEO of MET Group, comments, "Having already projects for solar plants and wind farms in Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Italy and Spain, our first solar project in Romania fits well into our growing portfolio. It is our goal to build a geographically diversified renewable energy portfolio in Europe. In doing so, we are also targeting investments in Germany and other Western European countries. Our expansion strategy focuses particularly on markets where we already have a local presence, builds on the existing activities of the entire MET Group and is designed to help provide our local customers with electricity from renewable sources."
Investors healthy risk-return prospects
Octavian Georgescu, Head of Origination Renewables at MET Group, added: "It is an important step for us that Romania now becomes part of our renewable energy portfolio with such a promising project. We have been monitoring the Romanian market for some time and have managed to build strong partnerships with local developers. We are also looking at numerous other projects that could be considered for acquisition here. From my point of view, the Romanian renewable energy market is attractive as it is mature enough and still offers investors healthy risk-return prospects." (hcn)
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