CWP, the leading independent renewable energy developer in southeastern Europe and Australia, and Mercuria Energy Trading, one of the world’s largest independent energy traders with more than 100 billion dollars of revenue, have joined forces to complete development and build out CWP ‘s renewable energy portfolio in southeastern Europe.
CWP’s project portfolio has been in active development since 2018 and consists of more than 2 GW of large-scale wind, solar, and battery storage projects across Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Ukraine.
Mercuria’s investment in CWP Europe will support its efforts to accelerate decarbonization in the four carbon-intensive countries. Mercuria, a commodity trading giant, will provide its broad expertise in energy markets as well as increased financial support, which will allow CWP Europe to realize its 1.9 billion euros investment plan over the next several years.
CWP has a successful track record of developing, managing, and owning renewable energy projects, using a proven approach for advancing each project from inception to full operation while ensuring genuine engagement with all stakeholders. The company has won multiple awards for community engagement. It is already the leading international developer active in the region, having developed the largest wind farms in Serbia – the 156 MW Cibuk project, and Romania – the 600 MW Fantanele-Cogealac project. The strategic investment in CWP Europe by Mercuria will accelerate the development of the existing portfolio and significantly expand the opportunity with additional developments.
Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Ukraine are Europe’s most carbon-intensive energy markets, with coal still playing a dominant position. These markets also have some of Europe’s most polluted air, and some of the highest rates of premature deaths caused by air pollution in the developed world. The decarbonization of these markets is an urgent priority and will require tens of thousands of megawatts of wind and solar energy. Together, CWP and Mercuria will lead the transition from polluting fossil fuels to clean, low-cost green energy.
With wind and solar energy now considerably cheaper than any alternative energy source, there is a significant opportunity to create value by intelligently managing the generation from a renewable energy portfolio with a non-contracted, merchant component. The partnership with Mercuria will further strengthen CWP Europe’s expertise in trading renewable energy assets and allow it to offer superior and more competitive products to its corporate and industrial power off- takers.
