The loan will finance the rehabilitation of six units at the 210MW project on the Bistrita River in north-eastern Romania – the oldest hydroelectric project in the country.
“With this key investment, the EBRD is continuing to provide assistance to Romania in securing reliable access to sustainable energy. Our project will bring about significant energy efficiency improvements and will play an active role in strengthening further development of the country’s energy sector,” said Riccardo Puliti, EBRD Managing Director for Energy and Natural Resources.
The EBRD will provide €70M of the total loan financing, with €40M being syndicated via commercial banks – Erste Bank Group AG and Caixabank. The loan will cover approximately 80% of the total project cost, which has been estimated at EUR 136.9M. Hidroelectrica will cover the difference in the project’s total cost using its own internal sources.
Hidroelectrica, with a market share of around 35 per cent, manages a network of 273 hydro power plants and pumping stations with a total capacity of 6482MW. In 2010, Hidroelectrica had a total generation capacity of 19.85 TWh.
