The European Investment Bank, or EIB, may grant Czech power group CEZ AS (BAACEZ.PR) a EUR200 million loan to finance the construction of wind turbines in Constanta county, southeastern Romania, in a project whose total investments is EUR620 million, news agency Mediafax reported Monday.
The wind turbines' total installed capacity in Fantanele will be 350 megawatts, according to an announcement posted Monday on the EIB Web site.
An EIB official said May 8 that the bank is negotiating with CEZ the financing of the wind project which the Czech power group is developing in Romania at an estimated cost of more than EUR1 billion.
Last year, CEZ bought two wind farms projects in Romania, in Fantanele and Cogealac, from Continental Wind Partners, and estimated the total investments in the projects would reach EUR1.1 billion.
According to CEZ, the two projects will together be the largest onshore wind farm in Europe, with a total capacity of 600 MW, approximately double the capacity of the next largest fully permitted onshore wind farm in Europe, and triple the size of the largest current operational wind farm in Europe.
CEZ as been operating on the Romanian electricity distribution market since 2005, when it bought electric power supplier Electrica Oltenia from the Romanian state.