EIB Backs Romania’s 1.3 GW Dama Solar Plant With €100m for Energy Growth

Dama Solar will connect to Romania’s high-voltage electricity network, allowing its output to reach the national grid and contribute to the country’s electricity supply.

Romania's plans for a larger supply of homegrown renewable electricity are taking shape in Arad County, where Rezolv Energy is developing Dama Solar, a project with an estimated total investment of €728 million. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing €100 million for the development, which is expected to become one of Europe's largest solar power plants with a planned peak capacity of around 1.3 gigawatts. Its expected annual electricity output would meet the needs of more than 280,000 households, representing close to one million people and giving a sense of the scale of the project.

A major new source of electricity for Romania

Dama Solar will connect to Romania's high-voltage electricity network, allowing its output to reach the national grid and contribute to the country's electricity supply. Adding renewable generation on this scale will help Romania produce more of its own clean energy, support efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen energy security. The planned capacity describes the plant's peak generating potential, with the household estimate illustrating how much electricity it is expected to produce over a year.

EIB Vice-President Ioannis Tsakiris described the investment as an example of how European financing can support energy security, climate action and regional development through a single project. "Europe needs more clean energy, and it needs it at scale," he said, pointing to the importance of a major new renewable electricity source for Romania and the investment and employment it will bring to the surrounding region. The development fits the bank's priorities for renewable energy and investment in less-developed regions.

Construction jobs and space for nature restoration

For Arad County, identified in the release as one of Romania's cohesion regions, the project's impact will extend beyond electricity generation through construction employment and additional economic activity linked to the work. The development is expected to reach a peak workforce of around 1,500 over the next three years, making it a substantial source of jobs during that period. Construction and related activities are expected to bring further business activity to the area as the large-scale plant takes shape.

The development also includes an 82-hectare area dedicated to nature restoration, bringing habitat recovery into the plans for the solar site. Parts of the lower-quality agricultural land will be returned to pasture, with sheep grazing used to manage vegetation. This approach is intended to help restore degraded steppe grassland and provide habitat for wildlife, including protected bird species, giving the project an ecological component alongside its role in supplying renewable electricity.

Long-term contracts support the financing package

Dama Solar has secured two 15-year Contracts for Difference covering 520 megawatts of capacity, providing long-term revenue support for part of the development. Electricity from the remaining capacity is planned for sale on the market and to commercial and industrial customers through long-term agreements. Those arrangements would give businesses access to more renewable electricity and establish a mix of sales channels for the plant's output.

Jan Viton, Head of Financing at Rezolv Energy, described the financing milestone as a significant achievement and credited the EIB team and the company's other relationship lenders with completing the transaction on a demanding timetable. He said the EIB's anchor financing, supported by InvestEU, played a crucial role in supporting the wider funding package. The €100 million commitment forms part of the financing for a development designed to expand Romania's renewable energy supply and bring investment to the country's western region.