Chief Executive Officer of Denmark-based Eurowind Energy Jens Rasmussen said the joint venture with Renalfa in Bulgaria would install 2 GW of renewable energy capacity in the Balkan country, starting with a 250 MW solar power plant in Yambol province.

Eurowind Energy, has established a joint venture called EURA Energy with Bulgarian clean energy and e-mobility investment firm Renalfa. The new entity already holds a development portfolio of wind, solar and green hydrogen projects with a combined capacity of more than 1 GW, according to the companies.

Jens Rasmussen, CEO of the Danish renewable energy developer headquartered in Hobro, expressed optimism in an interview with Capital.bg that 2 GW of capacity could be installed in Bulgaria in the next ten years. He revealed the first project would be for a 250 MW solar power plant near the village of Tenovo in Yambol province in the east.

The facility should be completed in 2023, Rasmussen said and added it would include a power storage system. He estimated the investment at EUR 100 million to EUR 150 million.

The 250 MW solar power plant near the village of Tenovo will include storage

Renalfa’s subsidiary Solarpro develops, installs, operates and maintains photovoltaic plants and charging stations for electric vehicles in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, with a focus on Eastern Europe. Its portfolio includes North Macedonia and Romania.

Eurowind is active in 15 European countries and the United States. It said it has built over 2.5 GW of capacity in Europe. The company already owns a small solar park in Bulgaria. It said it was one of the first in Europe to invest in large-scale green hydrogen and power-to-X (PtX) projects.

Eurowind already owns a small solar park in Bulgaria

Rasmussen stressed EURA Energy would develop projects with private capital, but that it could apply for European funds for innovative endeavors with new technology, particularly batteries. Eurowind said it has worked with Solarpro on two hybrid power plants in Denmark. Nuclear energy is acceptable if the local community supports such a project and it must be implemented entirely on market terms and without pollution, but that’s not realistic for Bulgaria, he underscored.

Rasmussen noted Eurowind integrated wind power and heat pumps for district heating in Denmark. He said the bills for users are smaller than for gas and coal.