Construction of largest photovoltaic park in Europe, investment worth 800 million euros, to begin this summer

The construction of the largest photovoltaic park in Europe, an investment worth 800 million euros, will begin this summer, in the Pilu - Graniceri area, western Arad County, with the project to be accompanied by a second investment, of approximately 200 million euros, in an energy storage unit, also the largest on the continent.

The mayor of Graniceri commune, Petru Claudiu Batrinut, told AGERPRES that on Friday morning he registered the investors' request for the issuance of the urban planning certificate for the construction of a storage station with a capacity of approximately 500 MW.

"This project completes the construction of the largest photovoltaic park in Europe. We are talking about a storage station that will be built on 20 hectares on the territory of the commune of Graniceri. Here there will be, on concrete platforms, batteries the size of cargo containers. It will be the largest renewable energy storage capacity in Europe, and the investment will amount to approximately 200 million euros, in addition to the 800 million euro investment in the Pilu - Graniceri photovoltaic park," the mayor declared.

According to the mayor, the construction of the photovoltaic park, announced last year by the investors and the authorities in Arad, will begin in July-August.

He stated that at this moment, work is being done on the ground for the archaeological discharge, with excavations taking place. After their completion, the approval from the Ministry of Culture is expected.

At the end of November 2022, the investors and the county authorities presented the project of the largest photovoltaic park in Europe, which will have a capacity of 1,044 MW and would become operational in December 2024.

"Here our plans are becoming reality. We chose this county and the location of the project taking into account the established infrastructure and the logistics possibilities. It is the largest photovoltaic park in Europe. By December 2024 we want to deliver the first amount of energy in the network," had declared, at the time, Sebastian Enache, representative of the Monsson developer.

The investor's representative, Marian Pavel, had specified in the autumn that the investments are exclusively private and do not benefit from any kind of fiscal facilities from the state. Part of the money needed to finance the projects is obtained from credits.

Monsson has been a major player in renewable energy and water since 2004, with with more than 7000 MW projects in pipeline.