By Anders Lorenzen

A series of wind power projects in Romania is set to increase the country’s wind power capacity significantly.

The three confirmed projects will increase Romania’s wind power capacity by 609 megawatts (MW).

One project is to be built by Low Carbon and Rezolv Energy, two UK-based companies, with an estimated 450 MW capacity. It is the biggest of the three and will be Romania’s second biggest wind farm. The planned wind farm, Vis Viva, is based near Buzău, northeast of Bucharest.

Chief Executive of Rezoly Energy, Jim Campion, said,  “Rising energy costs, heightened security concerns, demand to meet climate targets, and stakeholder expectations, are causing a rethink on energy usage – and production. The Vis Viva project will play a major role in accelerating this transition in Romania”.

The Swedish company OX2 is planning to build a 16 turbine 99.2 MW wind farm in the area of Frumuşita, Cuca and Smârdan in Galati county in the east of the country, close to the borders with Moldova and Ukraine.

And the local firm ACK Pascani is to move forward with a nine turbine 60 MW project near the town of Hârlău in Romania’s northeast.

Demand for greener energy sources

The rush to build wind farm projects comes as Romania is trying to meet tight deadlines for European funding. Also, there is increased pressure to become energy independent from Russia and, of course, take account of the global focus on decarbonising the energy system and moving towards net zero.

Several other wind power projects are in the planning stage, but none have yet been confirmed.

While many Eastern European countries struggle to break reliance on fossil fuels, Romania has been heavily investing in both renewables and nuclear. Data from 2020 indicates that 16% of electricity production came from renewables.