Romanian lender  BCR granted a loan of EUR 17 million to Espe Energy Ltd to build a micro-hydropower plant on the river Sapanta in Maramures County. Espe has also bought five other micro-hydropower plants since 2004 from Electrica.

The Sapanta micro-hydropower plant will  supply energy for more than 10,000 families,  based on four turbines with an installed capacity of 9.88 MW.

The micro-hydropower plant requires an investment of over EUR 23 million, which will be funded jointly by the company and the BCR loan.

Since 2006, following investments in technological innovations and efficiency of hydropower, Espe is among the top three companies in the renewable energy production in Romania.

BCR, part of Erste Group, is the biggest bank in Romania based on assets, which are over EUR 16 billion.

Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com