OMV Petrom, CE Oltenia to build 450 MW of PV capacity

The ministry of energy, serving as the contracting authority, and representatives of the four companies in charge of carrying out the projects have signed the financing contracts, OMV Petrom said in a press release.

OMV Petrom and CE Oltenia own 50% each in the four companies. In the next period, tender documents will be published in order to contract the engineering services, the construction and commissioning of the PV parks. The execution will start after the designation of the winner of this tender. The solar parks are expected to start supplying electricity to the national grid in 2025.

"OMV Petrom’s goal is to become an important player in renewable energy and supplier of green electricity for our customers, by installing production capacities, including via partnerships, by 2030," said Franck Neel, member of OMV Petrom's executive board.

In December 2021, OMV Petrom was designated as the selected investor for these projects, at the end of a selection procedure organized by CE Oltenia. The total investments needed for the development of the four photovoltaic parks amount to more than 400 million euro, 70% being financed through the Modernization Fund, according to the press release.

Austria's OMV Group owns a 51.157% stake in OMV Petrom; the Romanian state, via the energy ministry, owns 20.7%, and 28.145% is in free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.

OMV Petrom's shares traded flat at 0.539 lei ($0.12/0.10 euro) as of 1144 CET on Monday on the Bucharest bourse.

(1 euro=4.94079 lei)