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.
Urleasca will be financed through a mix of equity and non-recourse project debt. Leverage is roughly 60%. Erste Group and Banca Comercială Română are arranging the debt package.
Financing structure and timeline for Urleasca
Construction is expected to move ahead following the financing close. Commercial operation is targeted for the second half of 2028. The debt package is structured around a revenue profile that combines support and market exposure.
The project’s revenue structure is based on Romania’s Contracts for Difference mechanism. Approximately 57% of expected generation is covered by the CfD programme. The remaining production retains exposure to the wholesale electricity market.
How hybrid CfD and merchant exposure affects bankability
The hybrid design provides lenders with contractual visibility while keeping upside linked to merchant electricity prices. A fully merchant wind project can be difficult to finance because future electricity prices remain uncertain over a 15- or 20-year debt period. A fully contracted project can provide stability but limits participation in high market price outcomes.
Urleasca is positioned between these two models, with the CfD-covered portion creating a relatively predictable base for debt service. The merchant portion gives Scatec exposure to future Romanian electricity prices. It also creates potential exposure to the value of renewable generation outside solar-heavy daylight hours.
Romanian power market context for wind generation
Wind has particular strategic value in Romania’s current generation mix, according to the financing rationale described for the project. Solar deployment is accelerating rapidly and contributes to increasingly weak midday prices. Wind generation has a different production profile, which can allow it to capture higher prices during hours when solar output is lower.
The arrangement does not remove cannibalisation risk, including the possibility that large wind build-outs could create periods of correlated low prices. The near-term generation mix in Romania is cited as supporting diversification away from an increasingly solar-heavy renewable pipeline. This includes maintaining merchant exposure alongside CfD-supported volumes.
CfDs, cost of capital, and regional implications
The financing also reflects how CfDs can influence the cost of capital for renewables projects. Renewable economics are described as highly sensitive to financing assumptions, including revenue volatility. Lower revenue volatility reduces lender risk, which can support higher leverage and potentially lower debt margins.
A lower debt margin can reduce the electricity price required to achieve a developer’s target equity return. Romania’s use of CfDs is therefore described as reshaping project financing structures in addition to supporting renewable deployment. The programme may also accelerate international investment by allowing developers to accept country and merchant risk where revenues are stabilised through government-backed support.
Potential storage optimisation and evolving revenue stacking
The transaction is also framed alongside a potential storage angle as Romanian hourly volatility increases. Wind projects may benefit from batteries or portfolio-level optimisation over time. A wind farm with partially contracted revenues and a merchant tail could use storage to improve realised value from uncontracted electricity.
This aligns with a broader trend toward hybrid commercial structures where future projects combine CfDs, merchant sales, PPAs, balancing revenues, and storage optimisation . The wider Southeast Europe context includes ongoing examination by Serbia and other Western Balkan markets of auction and support mechanisms designed to mobilise private renewable capital while limiting excessive state exposure .
