Austria’s Egger Invests EUR35M In Romania Biomass Power Station

01.08.2014 By Roxana Petrescu

Wood processor Egger finished works for the largest biomass station in Romania, an 83-megawatt project worth EUR35 million, set to generate heat and power for the company based in Radauti (Suceava county).

Egger, a company with revenue of almost EUR200 million in Romania, uses waste from wood processing as the raw material for the energy production unit.

“Radauti is a strategic location for Egger group. The company further developed the Radauti platform into a completely integrated production unit, by building the biomass-fueled thermal power station,” says Ioan Banciu, technical manager with Egger Radauti.

Despite the large size of the new unit, the company says the produced energy will be entirely used on the Radauti platform.

Though biomass-based power was sheltered from changes of the renewable energy legislation, the installed capacity of projects fueled by agricultural or forestry waste is currently of just 35 MW, according to Transelectrica data. Biomass projects receive two green certificates for each MW injected in the network, a number that was not cut in last year’s amendments to the energy regulations.

Besides Egger’s investment, another biomass project, worth EUR80 million, should be finalized this year. The investment of Bioenergy Suceava is also located in Suceava county.

(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)