A 200 MW photovoltaic park near Bucharest, controlled by the wealthy Turkish Koc family, receives establishment authorization

A photovoltaic park project of over 200 MW in Dâmbivîța County, bought by a large company controlled by the richest family in Turkey, is about to receive the construction permit from ANRE.

“Draft decision and report on the granting of the Establishment Authorization requested by the company ECO SUN NICULESTI S.R.L. for the construction of the new energy capacity Centrala Electrică Fotovoltaică (CEF) Niculești”. This is one of the decisions to be taken by the ANRE Regulatory Committee in its next meeting, next week.

At the time when ANRE issues the establishment permit, the project developer must prove that it has the financing for the construction of the energy capacity, so most likely this project will be one of those that will be completed and will produce electricity.

The company Eco Sun Niculești, which is developing a 214 MW photovoltaic park, in Dâmbivîța County. The park has long received the technical connection approval (ATR) for 177 MW and will be connected to a new 220 kV substation linked to Transelectrica’s Brazi Vest – Fundeni line.

The project was developed by the Israelis from Econergy, one of the most active renewable investors in Romania, but was sold last year and the transaction was completed this year.

The project went to Entek Elektrik, a subsidiary of Tüpraş, Turkey’s largest oil refining company, controlled by the Koç family, Turkey’s richest family. The transaction was agreed in June 2024. The initial amount was EUR 32.9 million. Tüpraş said, upon finalizing the transaction this year, that it had revised it to EUR 33.2 million and that it had paid EUR 29.2 million by that time.

photovoltaicTupras is the largest refining company in Turkey and the seventh in Europe, with four units with a total capacity of about 30 million tons. It is controlled by the Koç family, which in turn controls the largest industrial group in Turkey, which also controls the Ford Otosan plant and the Beko factory (formerly Arctic) in our country.

If it is completed before other projects, it would be the largest photovoltaic park in Romania. Currently, the largest is one nearby (Rătești, Argeș), with 153 MW, also developed by Econergy in partnership with Nofar.

In January 2025 alone, 23 future power plants received all the approvals, and their installed capacity is almost 470 MW. These are the projects that are most likely to make the definitive leap from paper to the ground. A total of 387 electricity production projects had concluded grid connection contracts and obtained construction permits as of February 1, according to the latest data published by ANRE. Their total maximum installed capacity is approximately 13,735 MW. In terms of number of projects, the advance is 16% in just one month, and in terms of installed capacity, 13%.

More important is the situation of projects with concluded connection contracts, construction permits and establishment permits issued by ANRE, these being in fact the projects that will almost certainly be completed and will produce electricity. Thus, at the end of January, 140 projects were in this situation, almost 20% more than at the end of December 2024.
Record in photovoltaic energy production, since March

At midday on March 20, photovoltaic parks had an instantaneous production of 1,619 MW, a record for Romania, exceeding the 1,600 MW production threshold instantaneously for the first time. At the same time, according to Transelectrica data, photovoltaics were the country’s first source of electricity generation, with over 25% of production. Even higher percentages were reached on weekends, when consumption is traditionally lower.

77 new renewable energy capacities with a total capacity of 950 MW were put into operation last year, according to the latest data published by ANRE. The authority estimates that, this year, 52 new electricity production capacities (in total, not just renewable) would be put into operation, with an installed power of 2,712 MW.