Welsh company builds biomass plants in Romania

Cardiff, Wales-based renewable energy developer Eco2 is looking to develop two biomass power plants in Romania.

Costing an estimated €100 million each with an installed power generation capacity of 40MW, the plants will be built in Slobozia, Ialomita county and Rosiori de Vede in Teleorman county.

The Slobozia-based plant is scheduled to break ground at the end of 2012 before it is completed in 2014. Eco2 explains that the power producer for this plant will be on private leased land, while the Rosiori de Vede project could possibly be developed with the assistance of the local council.

When operational, both the plants will handle wheat straw as the primary feedstock, but also straw from rape, sunflower and corn and woodchips. It is estimated that each plant will be able to combust 240,000 tonnes of straw a year.

Eco2 plans to sign 12-year contracts with local farmers to bale straw for the projects. Feedstock for the plants will be sourced from within a 70km radius of the two locations. 'Farmers get extra money and the company is building a market for a product where there was no market before,' says Roger Preston, Eco2 representative for Romania.

Once the local authorities grant permission for the projects, Eco2's next step will be to obtain a zoning certificate and grid connection permits from state power grid company Transelectrica.

Each facility could create up to 150 jobs.