Bucharest, Timișoara, June 3, 2024 – RBJ – Agrovoltaics, a Restart Energy Group company, signes a connection contract with Transelectrica worth 56 million lei, supplying over 200,000 households in Romania with green energy. The agreement represents another important step in the development of a photovoltaic park with an installed capacity of 500 MW to be located in Șimand, Arad County.
The photovoltaic park is the second largest in Romania and will be financed by US Exim Bank through the American fund Interlink Capital Strategies in Washington DC. Restart Energy has received a letter of interest from US Exim Bank for the $380 million financing of the project.
To support the financing agreement, the company plans to use US technology, which will include state-of-the-art photovoltaic panels produced in the US by SEG Solar, one of the leading manufacturers in the industry, and energy storage batteries produced by TESLA with a capacity of 1 GWh. Restart Energy management expects construction to start in the second quarter of 2025 and complete the project by December 31, 2026. The project is expected to generate more than 300 new jobs over the next few years.
„This project is a strategic one that strengthens Restart Energy’s position on the regional energy market. The photovoltaic park contributes to protecting the environment, both through the low negative impact and by replacing existing polluting capacity using fossil fuels. We are proud to contribute significantly to Romania’s transition to renewable energy”, says Armand Domuța, CEO & Founder Restart Energy.
The PV park will produce over 800,000 MWh annually and will help reduce carbon emissions by approximately 400,000 tonnes per year, or 12 million tonnes of CO2 avoided over the lifetime of the project, meaning environmental benefits worth over $1 billion.
The European Union is working hard to meet the targets set in the Paris climate change agreement, with the ultimate goal of providing clean energy across the European Union.
Through the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan for 2021-2030 (INECP), Romania aims to develop new renewable energy capacity in order to reach the target of 30.7% renewable energy in the national energy mix. According to INECP, projections for 2030 foresee an increase in solar PV capacity to around 6.9GW. Thus, in order to meet the overall RES share trajectory proposed by INECP, the net new solar power capacities to be installed are 1362 GW higher in 2030 than in 2020.
The reduction of carbon emissions through the implementation of solar energy projects is monitored through the RED platform, implemented in 2021, a marketplace dedicated to calculating carbon footprints, reducing carbon emissions through sustainability projects or offsetting carbon footprints. Green attributes obtained for individual sustainable actions and carbon credits can be sold internally through the RED platform marketplaces, through a technologized, transparent, and secure process dedicated to reducing carbon emissions and improving ESG policies.
In January 2021, Restart Energy signed a partnership with the US fund Interlink Capital Strategies in Washington DC to finance the development of 500 MW of renewable projects in Romania by 2025 to supply 100% locally produced green energy to all end customers.
In February 2021, Restart Energy successfully launched the first convertible green bond issue in Romania to be listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange with the code REO26.
xxx
Restart Energy is a leading energy company with mixed Romanian-American capital. With more than 15 years of expertise of the management team, Armand Domuța and Renato Doicaru founded Restart Energy in 2015, reaching today a portfolio of more than 120 renewable solar energy projects. Through the implemented EPC projects, the company offers its partners stability and predictability and facilitates their access to energy. Restart Energy has a major regional and local role to play in helping companies streamline costs and increase profitability through sustainable green energy projects.
Restart Energy recently won The Diplomat magazine’s Energy Transition Award, the Business Review’s Transformational Leadership Award, and the Club Antreprenor’s Energy Excellence Award.
