Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja declared on Sunday after an on-site visit and a meeting with the new owners of the Mintia power plant that their ongoing investment in the new gas-fired power unit will be ready by the end of 2026, after a first stage which will be completed in the summer of 2025, write Agerpres.
The project will generate over 1,200 jobs during the plant’s construction, and will produce safe band energy, making Mintia the most efficient power plant in Europe, with an efficiency of 64%; it will provide substantial support to Romania’s green transition, as it replaces coal with natural gas in the energy mix – a strategic resource Romania has access to, the Energy minister said.
„This is a grand project, the largest gas-fired power plant in Europe – with 1,700 MW of installed capacity. As of April next year, Romania will see what it has never seen before: record size equipment, turbines, generators, basically the essential components of this strategic project. I appreciate the pace set by the investor so far, the seriousness of the contractors they work with, both for the construction of the power plant and the turbine system. I very much appreciate the fact that they chose Romania, as a matter of fact Mr. Chairman has had a special relationship with Romania for over 30 years now and it’s obvious that, together with his team, he puts a lot of soul into this project,” said the Energy minister.
The investment of Mass Group Holding in the new gas-fired power plant in Mintia will ultimately amount to 1.3 billion euros, Group Chairman Ahmad Ismail said in his turn. He also explained that about 300 energy workers will work here after the new power plant is commissioned.
Mass Global Energy Rom, part of Mass Group Holding, acquired the Mintia thermal power station in August 2022 for 91.23 million euros, VAT excluded, in a public auction.
The power plant had gone into insolvency proceedings on November 14, 2019 and was put in conservation in summer 2021, in absence of the necessary investments to render it compliant with the EU environmental regulations.
