According to the Director of Energy Management Division at state-controlled natural gas producer Romgaz Bela Balasz, one of the priorities in the company’s strategy until 2025 is to increase electricity supply by increasing the efficiency of thermal power plant Iernut to 56 %.
Balasz reminded that the new power plant will have 430 MW installed capacity, adding that it will open 150-180 new jobs, while at the peak there will be up to 700 workers involved with the project. Director of Operations Division at Romelectro, the contractor that has been selected for the project, Cosmin Mitu said that construction works on new unit at TPP Iernut will start in October or November this year.
On 18 January, Romanian Ministry of Energy has approved Romgaz’ application for the funding of a new gas-fired unit at thermal power plant Iernut through the National Investment Plan (NIP).
According to the press release from gas producer Romgaz, the negotiation process between the company and the Ministry will take place in the following period, on the terms of the financing agreement and on the timetable for the reimbursement requests, which includes the estimated amounts to be refunded and the date of submission of the requests. According to the company’s representatives, the funds from NIP can support up to 25 % of the total investment, which is currently estimated at 270 million euros. Thus, Romgaz could receive up to 68 million euros from NIP for financing this project, while the remainder will be financed with company’s own resources.
In early November 2016, Romgaz has concluded an agreement worth 268 million euros (without VAT) with a consortium of Spanish company Duro Felguera and Romanian Romelectro for a turnkey project for the construction of new power plant within its Iernut thermal power plant. The deadline for the completion of the new combined cycle power plant is 36 months from the effective date of the contract, which shall be within 5 working days from the date the NIP financing is approved. Romgaz took over Iernut thermal power plant in 2013 from Bucharest-based thermal energy producer ELCEN in exchange for deleting a 145 million euros debt.
