August 16 (SeeNews) - Romanian electricity and natural gas supplier Restart Energy One said on Monday that it raised 21 million euro ($25 million) from U.S investment fund Tejas Capital.
The funds will be allocated to the development of Restart Energy One's proprietary 500 MW solar photovoltaic project pipeline, the company said in a press release.
The company also plans to install and integrate at least 200 MWh of energy storage capacity into its renewable energy projects in order to provide grid services and to balance its the portfolio.
"The funds provided by US-based Tejas will be used to fund the company’s renewable energy infrastructure and growth in Romania contributing to its previously announced target of becoming the first 100% green energy supplier in the region by 2025," Restart Energy One CEO Armand Domuta said.
"Restart Energy One’s projects will create over 300 new jobs in the local communities and help avoid over 15 million tonnes of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere."
With the new investment, the company's value reached 87.5 million euro.
"We are interested in high-growth, independent companies with a proven capability to have an immediate positive impact on our climate and we found Restart Energy One to be one of the most promising opportunities in the Central Europe region with an ambitious growth plan and tremendous potential," Tejas Capital manager Gary Hoskins said. "Not just Romania, but hopefully the region will benefit from combining Restart Energy One’s rapidly expanding customer base with high-in-demand, renewable power assets and their block-chain based innovative trading platform."
The investment is part of a five-year plan unveiled by the company in January to develop renewable energy projects in Romania and neighbouring countries with a total capacity of 500 MW by the end of 2025. The projects will be developed jointly with Washington, D.C.-based Interlink Capital Strategies and will require annual investments of $100 million, targeting solar, wind, biogas, biomass and geothermal energy sectors, Restart said at the time.
Established in 2015, Restart Energy is part of Armand Group controlled by Romanian businessman Armand Domuta. The company provides an annual volume of approximately 145,000 MWh, less than 1% of the total volume distributed on the Romanian market. The company has operations in Romania and Serbia and, starting with this year, aims to develop in several other European markets, including Germany and Spain.
In February, Restart Energy One listed 3.3 million euro corporate bonds on the multilateral trading system (MTS) of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
($=0.8486 euro)