Israelis to build $400m power station in Iernut

Bateman Projects based in Israel will develop a greenfield-type investment project to build a set of generators, whose installed power will reach 400 MW, in Iernut (Mures County) sources on the energy market told Ziarul Financiar.

The cogeneration power station running on natural gas requires an estimated investment of about $400 million. The project will be officially announced in the next few days along with a number of other energy generation projects, Economy Minister Dan Ioan Popescu told a TV station.

Bateman has also submitted an expression of interest for the energy complex in Turceni, which has also attracted the attention of other investors, such as US-based Bechtel Power, AES and Washington Group.

Bateman officials could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press. Israeli business news website 'Globes' reports Bateman won a tender for the construction of a 270 MW power station in Kazakhstan, into which it will invest $190 million. The company runs $300 million in projects a year and employs 300 people.

The strong interest of foreign investor's in the energy production sector is due to the increasing demand for energy on the domestic market, the increase in power tariffs and the possibility of exporting to other markets in the region.

The need to modernise certain sets of generators in the energy production sector, as well as to replace others and develop greenfield-type projects will generate a multi-billion dollar business. So far the authorities' preferred method of attracting foreign capital for the energy production sector has been to form public-private partnerships.

The development of electrical power production facilities in Romania is becoming especially interesting for investors now that its energy system has been linked with that of the European Union. Furthermore, Romania produces enough electricity to cover domestic consumption, and has exported to the Balkan markets during the last few years.

Besides Bulgaria (another attractive country in terms of energy production, as far as investors are concerned), Romania is the only market in the region capable of exporting. The energy production systems in the former Yugoslavian territory, Albania, Greece and Turkey are not sufficient to meet demand, necessitating a resort to imports.

At present, three energy complexes, Craiova, Turceni and Rovinari, created under a partnership between the major power stations in Oltenia and the coal mines in the area, are expecting investors. They can produce energy at competitive prices, below the $38-$39/MWh average price reached by Termoelectrica in previous years.

The three complexes would require investments of about $2bn.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro