Fantanele-Cogealac Wind Farm is the largest wind project in Europe and the seventh biggest wind farm in the world. The 600MW wind farm is located in Constanta County of Romania. It contributes approximately ten percent of the Romanian renewable energy production.
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Continental Wind Partners (CWP) had owned the Fantanele-Cogealac wind project until Czech Republic’s CEZ Romania, part of CEZ Group, purchased the project in 2008.
It was the largest foreign direct investment in the Romanian renewable energy sector at that time.
The construction was, however, managed by CWP. The total investment on the project was $1.49bn.
Fantanele-Cogealac wind farm details
The 600MW wind farm is located in a 2,700 acre field in the Fantanele and Cogealac municipalities of Constanta County.
It was developed in two phases, comprising of 240 GE 2.5MW wind turbines in total.
The first phase included the installation of 139 turbines generating 347.5MW in the Fantanele municipality. The second phase, developed in Cogealac municipality, includes 101 wind turbines with a total generation capacity of 252.5MW.
GE turbine technology at Romania’s wind farm
Fantanele-Cogealac wind farm is equipped with GE’s latest 2.5XL turbine technology. Each turbine has a hub height of 100m and rotor diameter of 99m. The turbines were installed in an area of 12km x 6km.
The advanced technology of GE turbines helps in achieving higher annual energy production.
The turbines are equipped with the advanced WindSCADA technology for better supervision and control.
The nacelle of the turbines was manufactured in Germany, blades in Brazil, Spain and Germany, and the electric and electric components were shipped from US.
The components were shipped through the Port of Constanta on the Black Sea and taken to the construction site by road.
Construction of the Fantanele-Cogealac project
Construction of the 600MW wind farm began in 2008. The major activities included construction of more than 200km of access roads, along with 222km of 33kV cable trenches and 63.9km of 110kV cable trenches.
The wind turbine foundations were constructed using approximately 40t of rebar and 400m³ of concrete. The foundations, laid up to 24m deep and 700m apart, were stabilised using approximately 105 pilings.
Power transmission and generation from the Romanian wind farm
The power generated by the wind turbines is transmitted to the substation via 150km of underground cables. The voltage will be increased from 33kV to 100kV by the four transformer substations installed at the wind farm site. The power is then transferred to the main transformer substation and further stepped up to 400kV before connecting to the grid.
The first turbine of the wind farm was grid connected in July 2010 and the final turbine in November 2012. The 110kV/400kV main transformer station of the wind farm was connected to the grid by the Romanian transmission system operator, Transelectrica.
Fantanele-Cogealac wind farm financing
European Investment Bank provided €200m loan for the construction and development of the wind project.
The CEZ Group also obtained €262m from the German Export Credit Agency Hermes. BNP Paribas acted as the structuring and coordinating bank, while Bayerische Landesbank acted as the loan agent.
Contractors involved with the Fantanele-Cogealac project
Siemens was awarded the contract to construct four power transformer substations at the wind farm site.
Viarom was awarded the civil works contract for the wind farm.
The contract included construction of access roads and concrete foundations for the turbines.
The electric cabling and electric substations supply and installation contract was awarded to Energobit.
The project management contract was awarded to Eneria.
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