Ameresco Sunel Energy has secured the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the 58 MW Iratoșu solar power plant in Romania’s Arad county, extending the joint venture’s rapidly expanding position in the Romanian renewable-energy market.
The project is being developed by UK-based TDI Renewables. Ameresco Sunel will deliver detailed engineering, equipment procurement, construction and commissioning, as well as long-term operation and maintenance after commercial start-up.
The contract also includes a 33/110 kV substation and the underground cable system required to connect the plant to Romania’s electricity network. Including these assets within the EPC scope reduces interface risk between the generation facility and the grid connection.
That integrated structure is commercially important. Many regional solar projects have experienced delays because the generation plant was completed before the substation, transmission bay or connection line. A single contractor responsible for both packages provides the developer with a clearer basis for schedule control and performance accountability.
The project’s final capital cost was not disclosed. A Romanian utility-scale solar plant of this type could require an indicative investment of approximately €35–50 million, depending on module specifications, land conditions, grid works, financing costs and the extent of owner-supplied equipment.
At a typical annual yield of 1,250–1,450 MWh per installed MW, Iratoșu could generate approximately 72–84 GWh a year. Revenue will depend heavily on the project’s contracting strategy and exposure to increasingly volatile Romanian day-ahead prices.
Romania’s rapid solar expansion is beginning to compress prices during high-output hours. That creates a growing cannibalisation risk for merchant projects: annual average market prices may remain attractive, while the prices captured specifically during solar production hours decline.
The project will therefore benefit from a power-purchase agreement, active hedging or integration with storage. Even without a battery at the initial stage, technical design should preserve the option to add storage later as grid conditions and market spreads evolve.
Ameresco Sunel Energy is a joint venture between US-based Ameresco and Greece’s Sunel Group. It has already announced Romanian solar developments with a combined capacity of 466 MW, principally in the country’s southwest.
The Iratoșu award expands that footprint into western Romania and gives the contractor a broader operational base. Long-term O&M also creates recurring revenue beyond the construction period and aligns the contractor’s incentives with the plant’s operating performance.
For TDI Renewables, the critical delivery issues will be procurement quality, grid-code compliance, energisation sequencing, documentation and performance testing. The substation and underground connection must be commissioned in coordination with the relevant network operator, while the completed plant will require reliable SCADA, metering and forecasting systems.
Romania remains one of Central and Eastern Europe’s fastest-growing solar markets, but scale alone will not determine returns. Projects that combine secure grid access, disciplined EPC execution and a credible route to market will retain a financing advantage as congestion and solar-price cannibalisation become more pronounced.
