DTEK Group has announced a significant step in its ambition to become an important provider of clean energy to Europe by achieving 'first power' at its debut projects outside Ukraine.
The two Romanian projects – one wind and one solar – are the first in an EU portfolio that will span Italy, Poland, Romania, and Croatia and are being developed by DTEK’s wholly-owned subsidiary DTEK Renewables International (DRI), based in the Netherlands.
DTEK Group is already the largest producer of renewable energy in Ukraine, with 1.1 GW of installed capacity. At COP28 last December, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Vestas to expand its Tyligulska wind farm near Kherson – a €450 million investment that will create Eastern Europe’s largest wind farm.
The two projects in Romania are the first in DRI’s plans to reach 5 GW of installed capacity within the EU by 2030. Together they involved a total investment of €150 million.
Project Ruginoasa is a 60 MW wind farm with 10 Vestas V162-6.0 MW turbines in Lasi County, Romania. Building work began in March 2023, working with contractors Eximprod Engineering, Tractebel Engineering, and Electromontaj. The total investment is €107 million.
Project Glodeni is a 53 MWp solar park in Mure? County, Romania. Like Ruginoasa, construction began in March 2023, with power accepted by Transelectrica on 5th January 2024. DRI partnered with specialist contractors and manufacturers including Ostenweg, Risen, Ideematec, Krone Solar, and Energobit. The total investment is €43 million.
Together the two will produce approximately 225 000 MWh of electricity annually – enough to supply more than 58 500 homes and reduce carbon emissions by 58 000 tpy.
Sebastian Burduja, Romanian Minister of Energy, said: “Romania has embarked on building an energy system that is green, affordable, and secure, demonstrating the country’s ambition in this sector, honouring our partnership with the European Union’s Green Deal, and reducing our carbon emissions long term. We are delighted to have such important investments and investors in Romania, and we underline once more our key message for all companies in the global energy sector: come on over, Romania is open for business.”
Maxim Timchenko, CEO of DTEK, added: “Ukrainians have made a clear choice that their future lies inside Europe, and DTEK’s expansion into the EU is living proof of that ambition. I am exceptionally proud of the teams at Glodeni and Ruginoasa in producing green energy for Romanian consumers. This moment marks is a further step forward in the integration of Europe’s and Ukraine’s energy systems as Ukraine moves towards EU accession.”
Having developed the Tyligulska wind farm in Ukraine during the war and without foreign workers, DTEK plans to use the DRI projects as an opportunity to export Ukrainian skills to other European markets and generate employment. Equally, DRI’s expansion will allow Ukraine to draw on European expertise, and potentially to import green Romanian power into Ukraine.
In addition to DRI, DTEK Group includes Zug-based D.TRADING – a European commodity trader focusing on the CESEE markets and a leading Ukrainian energy supplier. The company specialises in trading power, gas, coal, and gas condensate and is adept in RES management.
For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry, read the latest issue of Energy Global magazine.
Energy Global's Winter 2023 issue
The Winter 2023 issue of Energy Global hosts an array of technical articles weather analysis, geothermal solutions, energy storage technology, and more. This issue also features a regional report looking at the future of renewables in North America, and a report from Théodore Reed-Martin, Editorial Assistant, Energy Global, on how Iceland utilises its unique geology for renewable energy.