Norwegian renewable developer Scatec has reached financing close for the 77 MW Urleasca wind farm. Total project investment is estimated at approximately €168 million excluding VAT. The project is Scatec’s first European onshore wind investment.
The development will be funded through a combination of equity and non-recourse project debt. Leverage is roughly 60%. Erste Group and Banca Comercială Română are arranging the debt package.
Project timeline and financing structure
Construction is expected to move ahead following the financing close. Commercial operation is targeted for the second half of 2028. The transaction uses a revenue model that combines government-backed support with exposure to market prices.
Approximately 57% of expected generation is covered by Romania’s Contracts for Difference mechanism. The remaining production retains exposure to the wholesale electricity market. This hybrid arrangement is designed to provide lenders with contractual visibility while keeping a portion of upside linked to merchant pricing.
CfD coverage alongside merchant electricity exposure
A fully merchant wind project can be difficult to finance when future electricity prices are uncertain over a 15- or 20-year debt period. Fully contracted structures can improve revenue stability but may limit the developer’s ability to benefit from higher market prices. Urleasca is positioned between these two approaches through partial CfD coverage.
The CfD-covered portion creates a relatively predictable foundation for debt service. The merchant portion provides Scatec exposure to future Romanian electricity prices and potentially to value from renewable generation outside solar-heavy daylight hours. This matters in Romania’s current generation mix where solar deployment is accelerating.
Wind generation versus solar-heavy midday pricing
Solar deployment in Romania is increasing rapidly and contributes to increasingly weak midday prices. Wind has a different production profile, which can allow it to capture higher prices during hours when solar output is lower. However, the structure does not eliminate cannibalisation risk.
Large wind build-outs can eventually create periods of correlated low prices. Even so, Romania’s near-term generation mix indicates potential value in diversifying away from an increasingly solar-heavy renewable pipeline. The financing close also reflects how CfDs can affect the cost of capital for renewables.
Cost of capital implications and regional relevance
Renewable economics are sensitive to financing assumptions, including revenue volatility and lender risk. Lower revenue volatility reduces lender risk, which can support higher leverage and potentially lower debt margins. That can reduce the electricity price needed to achieve a developer’s target equity return.
Romania’s Contracts for Difference programme is beginning to demonstrate how government-backed revenue support can unlock projects that still retain meaningful exposure to merchant electricity markets. The programme may also accelerate international investment by allowing large developers to accept Romanian country and merchant risk if part of revenues are stabilised through a government-backed mechanism.
Potential storage role and evolving contracting patterns
The transaction provides an example relevant beyond Romania as Serbia and other Western Balkan markets continue examining auction and support mechanisms for private renewable capital with limited excessive state exposure. Romania demonstrates one approach: provide sufficient revenue certainty for debt finance while leaving enough merchant exposure for investors to retain market discipline.
A potential storage angle is also highlighted as Romanian hourly volatility increases. Wind projects may eventually benefit from batteries or portfolio-level optimisation, using storage to improve realised value from uncontracted electricity when revenues are partially contracted. Future renewable projects are expected to combine CfDs, merchant sales, PPAs, balancing revenues, and storage optimisation.
Urleasca therefore matters not only because it is a 77 MW project but because the €168 million financing illustrates how public support and private price exposure can coexist within a bankable renewable structure in Romania.
