Romanian Oil/Gas Group OMV Petrom Enters Wind Power Production, Plans 100 Mln Euro Investment

BUCHAREST (Romania), April 15 (SeeNews) – Romania's top oil and gas group OMV Petrom said on Thursday it has acquired a local wind power generation project in which it will invest 100 million euro ($136 million), including both acquisition and development.

Petrom bought 100% of Wind Power Park SRL company, which owns a fully permitted wind power generation project in Dobrogea, southeastern Romania, with a designated capacity of 45 megawatts (MW), it said in a statement.

The company said it will construct and operate the wind power plant, which is estimated to enter production in mid-2011. The plant will be equipped with Vestas-V90 turbines, for which the acquisition contracts are in place, the company said.

"Considering the high potential of the area, Petrom evaluates the possibility to expand the capacity of the project to 54 MW."

The power generated by the plant will be used mainly to cover the company's demand, which amounts to some 1.0 terawatt hour (TWh) per year, while the remaining certificates will be sold on the Romanian market according to existing laws and regulations, OMV Petrom said.

"Diversification into wind power is in line with our sustainability efforts. In the medium term, by capitalising on the gas and power convergence and by developing renewable energy projects, Petrom will make the transition from a pure oil and gas company to an energy player," OMV Petrom CEO Mariana Gheorghe said in the statement.

OMV Petrom is among the 10 most liquid stocks on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, and is included in its 10-share blue-chip BET index. Its stock were last traded 1.43% up at 0.355 lei lei at 0703 GMT on Thursday.

($=0.7352 euro)

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