East European wind giant goes up for sale

One of the largest players in onshore wind power, the 600 MW Fantanele-Cogealac facility, has been put up for sale as the owner, Czech utility group CEZ, is in the process of divesting its Romanian assets.

For years, Fantanele-Cogealac was the largest onshore wind farm in Europe, recently being surpassed by projects in Scandinavia. 

Located near the shores of the Romanian Black Sea, the facility is equipped with 2.5 MW GE wind turbines and went into operation in 2012. Since then it has had something of a turbulent history.

Over the years, the project has encountered planning disputes, disagreements with the wind farm's original US developer and swingeing cuts to subsidies which practically brought wind markets in Romania, until then one of Europe's most promising markets for wind power, to a standstill.

A previous attempt by CEZ to divest Fantanele-Cogealac was halted in 2014.

Last year, industry body WindEurope urged the Romanian government to bring in measures to restart onshore wind developments. 

Other assets owned by CEZ that are now up for sale include an energy distribution network, 22 MW of hydropower projects, and a gas and electricity supply business. 

The utility group invited potential investors to confirm their interest in writing before making non-binding offers.

CEZ has also recently approved a strategy to slowly divest its assets in Turkey and Bulgaria, as well as some of its interests in Poland. The group has said that it wants to focus its wind power business on onshore assets in France and Germany.

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