Alina Oprea • 20 October, 2023 at 2:37 PM
The largest photovoltaic park in Southeast Europe, the one in Rătești-Argeș, will be officially inaugurated at the end of this month. The photovoltaic park from Rătești in Argeș County is owned by two companies based in Israel, it will be officially inaugurated on October 31. The Rătești photovoltaic park is also the largest investment in the renewable sector that will come into operation in 2023 in Romania. The photovoltaic park, also visible from the Bucharest-Pitesti highway, has a capacity of 153 MW and will be, after the start of operation, the largest functional photovoltaic park in Romania.
According to the description of the Romanian Photovoltaic Energy Association (RPIA), the Rătești park will be, at the time of operation, the largest photovoltaic park in Southeast Europe.
The total investment in the project was estimated, at the start of the project, at approximately €98 million. The park was finally developed by the companies Econery and Nofar, active in the renewable energy production segment in Romania.
Econergy has a portfolio of projects, in various phases of execution, of 2,200 MW in Romania, in photovoltaic and wind. Last month, it received the technical approval for connection (ATR) for a future photovoltaic park located in the town of Niclești in Dâmbovița County, with a projected capacity of 177 MW.
Regarding the Rătești park, the first investor who started the development of the 153 MW project on approximately 160 hectares was Portland Trust, a real estate developer from Romania. In 2020, he also obtained ATR from Transelectrica for the park and the following year he put the project up for sale.
In 2021, Portland Trust sold the project to two companies from Israel, Econergy and Nofar Energy, in August 2021.
The total installed photovoltaic capacity in Romania is currently 1,527 MW, according to the data of the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE).