July 20 (SeeNews) - Romania's top oil and gas group OMV Petrom [BSE:SNP] said on Thursday it has signed a contract for the sale of its Dorobantu wind park to Transeastern Power B.V. for 23 million euro ($26.5 million)
The completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions precedent, including approval from the competition council and is expected by end of this year, OMV Petrom said in a press release.
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OMV Petrom announced its intention to sell the Dorobantu wind park at the beginning of 2016.
The main rationale for the sale is that wind power activities are not part of the strategic directions of the company.
"OMV Petrom strategy as an integrated oil and gas group is to concentrate on core activities. More specifically, in Downstream Gas, the focus is placed on consolidating the leading position on the gas market, on maximizing the benefits of the integrated gas and power business model and on regional expansion," OMV Petrom said.
Dorobantu wind park is located in southeastern Romania, and includes 15 Vestas V-90 turbines, each with a 3 MW capacity.
The total wind power capacities installed in Romania are currently estimated at 3,000 MW, whereby the Dorobantu wind park has a 1.5% share.
In 2016, it generated a net electrical output of 0.08 TWh, receiving around 128,000 green certificates, half of them eligible for sale starting 1st of January 2018.
The transaction will not have a significant impact on the OMV Petrom financial and operational indicators, OMV said.
The operating result and assets of OMV Petrom Wind Power, which operates the park, represent less than 1% of the corresponding OMV Petrom Group KPIs, while the power production accounts for approximately 3% of the Group total power production.
Transeastern Power B.V. is a subsidiary of Transeastern Power Trust, an independent electric power producer that owns and operates facilities which produce electricity from renewable sources - wind, solar and hydro. Transeastern Power Trust was founded in 2014 and is listed on the TSX Venture exchange in Canada.
OMV Petrom posted a 618 million lei ($148 million/136 million euro) net profit in the first three months of 2017, more than double compared to the same period of last year.
Romania sold Petrom to OMV in late 2004.
OMV owns 51.01% of OMV Petrom share capital, the Romanian state via the energy ministry holds a stake of 20.64%, Fondul Proprietatea owns 12.57%, and 15.78% is in free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange.
Blue-chip OMV Petrom was trading 2.43% higher at 0.3165 lei by 1637 CET on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
(1 euro=4.5654 lei)