Mercuria Energy Trading and CWP have joined forces to expand renewable energy projects in Southeast Europe; particularly to develop CWP’s portfolio in the region. The partnership aims to grow around 2 gigawatts of large-scale wind, solar; and battery storage projects across Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, and also Ukraine.
Firstly, CWP’s renewable projects portfolio has been under active development since 2018. However, the partnership with Mercuria Trading will allow CWP to realize its €1.9 billion investment plan over the next several years.
On the other hand, the partnership focuses on the decarbonization of four key markets in Europe: Bulgaria, Serbia; Romania, and also Ukraine, which are Europe’s most carbon-intensive energy markets; with coal still playing a dominant position.
In addition, these markets have some of Europe’s most polluted air and some of the highest rates of premature deaths caused by air pollution in the developed world. Consequently, the decarbonization of these markets is urgent; but it will require tens of thousands of megawatts of wind and solar energy.
As a result, the CWP and Mercuria partnership will tackle an urgent issue in Europe, leading the transition from polluting fossil fuels to clean, low-cost green energy. Particularly, Mercuria will provide its broad expertise in energy markets and increased financial support; while CWP will increase its investments in the region and expand its portfolio.
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Mercuria to further push CWP’s development in a key region of Europe
CWP has a successful track record of developing, managing, and owning renewable energy projects, indeed. It uses a proven approach for advancing each project from inception to full operation while ensuring genuine engagement with all stakeholders. In fact, the company has won multiple awards for community engagement.
Moreover, CWP is already one of the largest developers in the region. It has developed the largest wind farms in Serbia and Romania; which are the 156-megawatt Čibuk project, and the 600-megawatt Fântânele-Cogealac project, respectively.
About all of the opportunities from the partnership with Mercuria, Dimitar Enchev, CWP Europe’s CEO, said. “We see a tremendous opportunity in these markets, where a massive amount of expensive and polluting coal needs to be replaced with renewables as quickly as possible.”
He also remarked. “This is the only way to achieve decarbonization targets, keep power prices in check in the long run, and maintain the region’s economic competitiveness. Partnering with Mercuria will allow us to supercharge our already ambitious plans.”
Finally, Jean-François Steels, Vice President of Energy Transition at Mercuria, commented. “We are pleased to join CWP Europe to help provide needed low-cost green energy to Southeast Europe. We look forward to working together with the CWP team by further developing their portfolio and bringing our commodities market expertise to their strategy.”
