Europe's Largest Onshore Windfarm Moves Forward

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--CEZ Romania, part of CEZ Group (PRG:BAACEZ) (Prague, Czech Republic), has contracted GE Energy to provide 101 wind turbines for the second phase of Europe's largest onshore windfarm project at Fantanele and Cogealac, in the Dobrogea region of Romania.

GE Energy, a division of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut), will supply 101 of its 2.5xl turbines, rated at 2.5-megawatts (MW) each, for the 252.5-MW phase, or Cogealac phase, of the project. The company was commissioned by CEZ in March to provide 139 of the 2.5xl turbines for the first 347.5-MW Fantanele phase. The first phase is expected to be running by the start of 2010, and a completion date of 2011 is promised for the whole facility. For additional information, see March 19, 2009, news article - GE Energy to Supply 140 Wind Turbines for Romanian Windfarms.

CEZ Group bought the adjacent windfarms in Constanta County from Continental Wind Partners LLC (Wilmington, Delaware) in August 2008. When complete, the windfarm complex will be capable of generating 600 MW, making it almost twice the size of any other European onshore wind facility. It will provide enough wind-generated electricity for more than 400,000 homes.

CEZ is investing about 1 billion euros in the project, which is seen as vital for Romania to improve its renewable energy generation capacity under European Union guidelines. According to the European Wind Energy Association, Romania only had 10 MW of wind generation equipment installed at the end of 2008, accounting for less than 1% of installed generating capacity. GE Energy praised favourable government incentives for windfarm development.

"Romania is an excellent example of how good policy can drive investments in the energy sector," said Rod Christie, president of GE Energy for CEE, Russia & CIS. "Good legislation helps to pave the way for projects such as Fantanele and Cogealac, and will help Romania achieve its E.U.-mandated renewable energy targets and modernize and diversify its energy infrastructure."

Along with sale and delivery, GE is also contracted for installation, startup and commissioning services, including transportation and reliability runs. The maintenance services will be managed from a service station GE is building near the windfarm.

Each of the 2.5xl turbines has a rotor diameter of 99 meters and will stand 100 meters above ground level. The 2.5xl is based on the same technology used in GE's 1.5-MW turbine, which GE claimed is the world's most popular turbine, with more than 12,000 installed. The company revealed that 200 of these turbines are installed in nine countries, and it has orders that will boost installed capacity for the unit to more than 1 gigawatt in the coming year.

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