Romania's wind power capacity per 1,000 inhabitants ranks it at the bottom of the EU, but the country has made a considerable leap forward in the last two years, shows a recent report from EurObservER.

The country, which only had a single 18-MW wind farm in 2009, had 982 MW of installed capacity by the end of 2011, placing it 15th among EU countries, according to the Romanian wind energy association. The construction of Europe’s biggest wind farm in the villages of Fantanele and Cogealac, in the Dobrogea region of Romania will make a sizable contribution to growth. The project, developed by CEZ, will comprise 240 turbines with a capacity of 2.5 MW. Enel Green Power, Ibedrola and EDP are also involved in wind energy projects in Romania. “The Romanian government’s decision to double the value of green certificates for the production of wind power and hold the value until 2017 is behind this development drive,” according to the EurObservER report.

Romania only has 45.9 MW per 1,000 inhabitants in wind capacity, higher than Poland, Finland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta. But Romania is far behind Denmark, ranked first , which has 700 MW of wind power per 1,000 inhabitants.

With installed capacity of 982 MW, Romania is 15th in the European Union. In 2011, its installed capacity was of 520 MW. Number one in Europe is Germany, with an installed capacity of 29,000 MW.

The full report from EurObservER here.

editor@romania-insider.com