December 13 (SeeNews) - Solar energy and clean water solutions group Photon Energy said on Tuesday its operations in Romania will not be negatively affected by the country's recently approved regulatory changes, and that it expects new solar parks to significantly boost its financial performance in 2023.
The company's power plants in Romania will not be subject to a price cap, as in March the parliament approved a bill which explicitly exempts all new electricity generation capacities commissioned after September 1 from any price caps, Photon Energy said in a press release.
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The current 2023 futures price for Romanian base load is 383.5 euro ($405) per MWh and for Romanian peak load it is 488.5 euro per MWh, Photon added.
In September, the government introduced a price cap of 450 lei ($96/ 91 euro) per MWh of solar PV generated electricity from September 1 until end-August 2023, which was extended until end-March 2025 last month.
Photon Energy is in the process of commissioning seven power plants with a total installed capacity of 28 MWp, projected to generate 50 GWh of green electricity per year. The power plants are planned to get grid-connected in the first quarter of 2023 and will be selling produced electricity in the day-ahead market via Polish-owned platform Lerta.
"Based on the current regulatory environment, the company’s newly added power plants in Romania are expected to contribute significant revenues and EBITDA in 2023. The planned additions, on top of the 28 MWp to the Romanian portfolio in 2023 will provide a further boost to the Group’s financial performance in 2023," the company explained.
Photon Energy said that it is expecting a modest negative impact on its finances from price caps and windfall taxes adopted by the governments in the Czech Republic and Hungary, with a potential slowdown in roll-out plans in Poland.
Photon Energy N.V., the holding company for Photon Energy Group, is listed on the stock exchanges in Warsaw, Prague and Frankfurt. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam, with offices across Europe and in Australia.
In September, Photon Energy announced the start of construction of its seventh solar power plant in Romania, with a capacity of 7.1 MWp, remaining on track with an earlier announced plan to build 32 MWp solar projects in the country by the end of the year.
($=0.9468 euro)