The CEZ Group, the leading Czech CE power utility, and Continental Wind Partners LLC, a major renewable power developer, concluded the sale of CWP’s adjacent Fantanele and Cogealac wind farms in Romania to CEZ. The two projects will together be the largest onshore wind farm in Europe, with a total capacity of 600 megawatts, approximately double the size of the next largest fully permitted onshore wind farm in Europe, and triple the size of the largest current operational wind farm in Europe.
The total investment of the CEZ Group into the project will reach 1.1 billion Euro, CEZ Group recently announced. Fantanele and Cogealac are situated in the Dobrogea province, north of Constanta, about 17 kilometres from the Black Sea. The project will become operational in stages. The first stage of 347.5 megawatts will comprise 139 GE 2.5xl turbines with a 100 meter hub height and 99 metre rotor diameters and a 2.5 megawatt capacity and will be operational by end of 2009. The second stage of 252.5 MW will be operational by end 2010. The construction will begin next month.
The wind farm will represent almost 30 percent of the renewable market in Romania (including large hydro) when it becomes fully operational. It is the first significant wind project to be realised in Romania, which today has only seven megawatts of operational wind energy production. CWP will manage the construction of the wind farm, which will be built by major international construction firms.
All related technical components of the project (transformers, cables, etc) are secured and will arrive on site in time to commence operations according to schedule.