Czech power utility group CEZ said on Wednesday it has bought two wind farms in Romania, which it plans to develop into the largest onshore wind farm in Europe, in a project worth a total investment of 1.1 billion euro ($1.6 billion).
Tuesday evening, CEZ Group concluded the acquisition of Fantanele and Cogealac wind farms from Continental Wind Partners (CWP) LLC, a major renewable power developer, CEZ said in a statement.
The two wind farms will have a total capacity of 600 megawatts, representing 30% of the renewable energy market in the country.
Fitch Ratings said later on Wednesday it has affirmed CEZ long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating at 'A-' with stable outlook.
"This transaction complements CEZ's strategy of growth through acquisitions in central and south-eastern Europe. Once completed by the end of 2009 and 2010 respectively, these wind farm projects should improve CEZ's business position in Romania, where the company already operates in the power distribution segment," Arkadiusz Wicik, Director in Fitch's Energy, Utilities and Regulation team, said in a separate statement.
Construction works are scheduled to start next month. The project will become operational in two stages. The first stage of 347.5 MW will become operational by the end of 2009; the second, of 252.5 MW, by end-2010.
Fantanele and Cogealac are situated in the Dobrogea province, north of the port city of Constanta, about 17 kilometres from the Black Sea.
"This wind farm project will strengthen the position of the CEZ Group in Romania itself and enlarges our activities in the electricity generation sector there. The project has all necessary licenses and permissions including guaranteed connection to the grid and the hardware for the first stage has already been fully contracted", Martin Roman, Chairman of the Board and CEO of CEZ said in the statement.
"Investment into renewables is one of the strategic measures we are taking to respond to the adopted energy-climatic package of the EU. In addition to that, we are also concentrating on extending our production portfolio by gas power plants and further nuclear power plants using as another way to meet our targets of reducing CO2 emissions," he added.
Romania joined the European Union last year.
($ = 0.6794 euro)
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