The building of the Tarnita-Lapustesti hydro power plant could start next year, said Energy Minister Andrei Gerea. The project is estimated at EUR 1 billion.

The interested companies have submitted preliminary offers and should present their financial offers by the end of the year, Gerea added.

“If everything goes well, we could have a winner in half a year,” he said, cited by Wall-street.ro.

Three Chinese joint ventures remained in the race for the project, following the prequalification stage. These include Gezhouba Group Company Limited and Wu Lingpower Corporation, China Huadian Engineering and Guizhou Wujiang Hydropower, and Huaneng Lancang River Hydropower and Hydrolancang International Energy.

The power plant, which has been on the state’s strategic investments list for three decades, should help adjust the imbalances in Romania’s energy system, caused by the increased production of energy from renewable sources (solar, wind), which is not constant. The Tarnita-Lapustesti Power plant is supposed to work both as an energy producer and an energy consumer, depending on the needs in the system.

The project is located about 30 km away from Cluj-Napoca, in central Romania, on the Somesul Cald River.

editor@romania-insider.com