A huge agrivoltaic park in the west of the country is being approved by ANRE. Over 400 MW, project of a well-known Romanian investor

A large-scale agrivoltaic project controlled by the Domuța family is to receive establishment authorization from ANRE next week.

“Draft decision and report regarding the granting of the Establishment Authorization requested by the company AGROVOLTAICS SRL for the realization of the new energy capacity Centrala Electrică Photovoltaica CEF Șimand”.

This is one of two decisions to be adopted by ANRE’s Regulatory Committee in its meeting next week.

In general, when ANRE issues the establishment authorization, the project developer must prove that he has the financing for the construction of the energy capacity, so, most likely, this project will be one of those that will be completed and produce electricity.

According to our data, CEF Șimand, the project that is going to obtain the authorization is a huge photovoltaic park, of 410 MW, which is to be built within the radius of the commune of Șimand in Arad county. The building permit to be issued by ANRE has a validity of 36 months.

According to Termene.ro data, Agrovoltaics is 50% owned by Daniela Domuța, a relative of the much better-known energy entrepreneur Armand Domuța, owner of Restart Energy, a former significant supplier of electricity. Domuță was targeted by a DIICOT investigation, and Restart Energy is in preventive arrangement, but its restructuring plan was approved by the court last autumn.

Along with Domuța, the company also includes an American investment fund, Tejas Capital, which was also an investor in Restart, with 10%, and MDM ACES, with 40%.

The 410 MW agrivoltaic park from Şimand would occupy almost 325 hectares of arable land outside the village, on which there are agricultural crops and pastures, according to the evaluation study on the basis of which the environmental permit was granted.

The concept of agrivooltaic refers to the dual use of land, both for solar energy production and agriculture.

The park obtained technical approval for connection (ATR) from Transelectrica in the spring of 2023. Armand Domuţa said in 2024 that he is in discussions to obtain a facility from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM Bank).

If it is realized, it would be one of the largest photovoltaic parks in Romania. At least now, from what has been publicly communicated, it would be the largest agrivoltaic park in our country.