IFC Mulls Lending 115 Mln Euro for Two Wind Farm Projects in Romania

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private sector arm, said it is considering providing up to 115 million euro ($155 million) in two loans to Portuguese utility Energias de Portugal to finance the construction of two wind farms in southeastern Romania.

The two greenfield projects, Cernavoda and Pestera, have a combined capacity of 228 megawatts (MW), IFC said in a statement.

It added that the total cost of the projects is estimated at 328 million euro, with 200 million euro earmarked for the Cernavoda wind farm, which will have an installed capacity of 138 MW.

The proposed IFC investment is divided into two loans worth up to 82 million euro and up to 33 million euro, respectively, the lender said. It added that it may consider another loan for the projects. EBRD is considering providing loans of equal amounts to the projects.

Both loans are pending IFC's board approval on June 17.

The wind farms are currently under construction and commercial operation is expected to begin in December 2010 for Cernavoda and in September 2010 for Pestera, IFC said.

Cernavoda is wholly-owned by Cernavoda Power and Pestera is wholly-owned by Renovatio Power. Both companies are Romania-based and are 85%-owned by EDP Renovaveis SA (EDPR) through its wholly-owned European subsidiary Nuevas Energias de Occidente, S.L., and 15%-owned by Renovatio Group Ltd.

EDPR is the renewable energy arm of the Energias de Portugal Group. Renovatio Group is privately-held and is EDPR’s local partner for wind power development in Romania.

($=0.7441 euro)

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