Iraqi company buys a Romanian power plant
Shafaq News/ Iraq's Mass Group Holding has bought Romania's Mintia thermal power plant (TPP) from Hunedoara Energy Complex (CEH) for 91.2 million euro ($91 million) in a public auction, and plans to invest over 1 billion euro in the plant in the coming years, the company's judicial administrator Expert Insolventa said on Friday.
As CEH is state-owned, the energy ministry imposed certain conditions to Mass Global Energy Rom, a subsidiary established by the holding in Romania earlier this year with the aim of relaunching energy production in Mintia, Expert Insolventa said in a press release
Thus, the buyer has the obligation to create a new energy capacity of at least 1,290 MWh by December 31, 2026, of which some 800 MWh must be obtained from renewable energy sources. The start of the investments will be possible after the relevant authorities grant the necessary approvals and authorizations for the deal.
"The investments in the modernization and development of the Mintia plant in the coming years will amount to more than 1 billion euro, in order to develop production capacity and adapt to new European standards regarding the transition to production of electricity from renewable sources, which will lead to climate neutrality by 2050," Mass Group Holding chairman Ahmad Ismail Saleh said.
The Mintia thermal power plant is located 9 km from the city of Deva, in central western Romania. Currently, the plant has five energy blocks for the production of electricity and thermal energy powered by steam boilers. The thermal power plant entered insolvency in 2019 and has been under conservation since the summer of 2021, in the absence of the necessary investments to make it compliant with EU's environmental standards.
Complexul Energetic Hunedoara was established in 2012 through the merger of Deva Electrocentrale and Electrocentrale Paroseni.
Established in 1995, Mass Group Holding is an Iraqi company registered in Cayman Islands/U.K with its head office in Amman, Jordan. The holding is focused on power generation, cement, iron, and steel production.