800,000 Panels, €400 Million, 550 MW: OMV Petrom and CE Oltenia Turn Coal Country Into Solar Country
OMV Petrom and CE Oltenia are building four solar parks, about 550 MW, on former mining land in Gorj and Dolj. What it means for EPCs and suppliers.
Roughly 1,500 truckloads of solar panels are rolling from the Port of Constanța into Gorj and Dolj, the heart of Romania’s lignite belt. Their destination: four solar parks that OMV Petrom and Complexul Energetic Oltenia are building on former mining and ash-dump land at Ișalnița, Tismana and Rovinari. At about 550 MW and more than €400 million, it is one of the largest solar builds in Romania, and it is now in its most visible phase.
The build in numbers
- Capacity: about 550 MW across four parks: Ișalnița (about 90 MW) plus Tismana 1, Tismana 2 and Rovinari Est (about 460 MW together).
- Panels: around 800,000 modules, covering an area comparable to Bucharest’s Herăstrău Park.
- Logistics: first batches, covering about 100 MW, unloaded at the Port of Constanța at the end of June 2026, with around 1,500 truck deliveries planned to the sites.
- Ownership: a 50/50 partnership between OMV Petrom and CE Oltenia.
- Output: enough electricity for about 500,000 households a year once operational.
- Funding: around 70% comes from the Modernisation Fund.
Who is building it
The EPC contracts were signed in April 2025 and cover design, procurement, construction, commissioning and three years of operation and maintenance.
- Ameresco (US) and Sunel Group (Greece) hold the largest package: Tismana 1, Tismana 2 and Rovinari Est, about 460 MW for roughly €304 million.
- Girișim Elektrik (Turkey) is building the Ișalnița park, about 90 MW for roughly €100 million, on the ash deposit of the former Ișalnița thermal plant.
The module manufacturer has not been named publicly. OMV Petrom describes it only as “a renowned global manufacturer”.
“The arrival of the panels in Romania shows real progress on site and confirms the strong pace of the project.” Franck Neel, Executive Board Member for Gas and Power, OMV Petrom
The timeline moved, and that matters
When construction started in January 2026, the parks were expected online within the year. OMV Petrom now guides to commercial operation in 2027. For a project of this size on reclaimed industrial land, a slip of a few months is not unusual. But for suppliers and service providers it changes the calendar: the busiest window for installation, cabling, inverters, substations and commissioning work now runs through 2026 and into 2027.
Where the openings are for EPCs, suppliers and funds
- Subcontracting: mounting structures, DC and AC cabling, trenching, fencing, security and site civil works are typically sublet locally by the main EPCs.
- Logistics and storage: 1,500 truckloads from Constanța means sustained demand for haulage, laydown yards and handling in Gorj and Dolj.
- Skilled labour: about 255 CE Oltenia employees have already qualified as photovoltaic installers through the RenewAcad programme, a rare local talent pool for anyone bidding on work in the region.
- O&M after the EPC period: the three-year O&M terms will end around 2030, opening a second procurement round for long-term service providers.
- Capital: CE Oltenia is running a second, separate four-park solar programme with another partner, so this is not the last coal-to-solar deal in the region.
Momentum Energy’s View
This project is the clearest proof so far that Romania’s coal regions can host utility-scale solar at speed. Three things we are watching:
- Grid connection and first energisation. No park has publicly reported first MW on the grid yet. The first energisation announcement will be the real milestone for investor confidence.
- Contractor delivery. With the COD now in 2027, schedule discipline from the EPC consortia will decide whether this becomes the template for the rest of CE Oltenia’s land bank.
- Price cannibalisation. Adding 550 MW of daytime solar in one region strengthens the case for co-located BESS. Developers planning projects nearby should model midday prices accordingly.
For Turkish and international contractors, the presence of Girișim Elektrik on the Ișalnița park shows that Oltenia’s tenders are open to foreign EPCs that can price competitively and deliver on reclaimed land.
Sources and references
Organisations and documents cited in this article.
