Romania’s Hidroelectrica Borrows 110 Mln Euro for Power Station Upgrades

BUCHAREST (Romania), July 12 (SeeNews) – Romanian state-owned hydro power company Hidroelectrica has borrowed a total of 110 million euro ($153 million) to upgrade the country’s oldest hydro power plant, one of the lenders involved in the deal said on Tuesday.

This investment will finance the rehabilitation of six units at Stejarul Bicaz, a 50-year-old hydro power plant with a total capacity of 210 megawatts (MW) on the Bistrita River in northeastern Romania, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in a statement.

The EBRD will provide 70 million euro of the total financing, with 40 million euro being syndicated via the commercial banks Erste Bank Group AG and Caixabank.

“The 110 million euro loan covers approximately 80% of the project cost, which stands at 136.9 million euro. Hidroelectrica will cover the difference in the project’s total cost using its own internal sources,” the company’s general manager, Constantin Trihenea, said in the statement.

Hidroelectrica, with a market share of around 35%, manages a network of 273 hydro power plants and pumping stations with a total capacity of 6,482 MW. In 2010, it had a total generation capacity of 19.85 terawatthours.

Since the beginning of its operations in Romania, the EBRD has committed over 5.0 billion euro to various sectors of the country’s economy, with about 80% of the project investments into the development of the private sector.

($ = 0.7199 euro)

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