A future photovoltaic park in Romania, investigated by the European Commission

The European Commission is investigating the contract regarding the design, construction and operation of the Rovinari Photovoltaic Park, worth over 100 million euros.

The project belongs to the Oltenia Energy Complex and OMV Petrom, and 70% of the funding is money from the European Union.

Two investigations into how the Regulation on Foreign Subsidies in the Photovoltaic Sector was applied were announced on Wednesday by European Commission officials.

The investigations refer to the potential market-distorting role of foreign subsidies granted to bidders in a public procurement procedure, notes Euractiv.

The Commission is trying to find out whether the economic operators in question had any undue advantage when they won public procurement contracts in the European Union.

The investigations announced by the EC were launched following notifications by the Enevo Group, including LONGi Solar Technologie GmbH and, on the other hand, Shanghai Electric UK Co. Ltd. and by Shanghai Electric Hong Kong International Engineering Co. Ltd.

The targeted company is a Romanian one – the company PARC fotovoltaic ROVINARI EST SA, for the design, construction and operation of a photovoltaic park in Romania, with an installed power of 110 MW. The money for this project comes partly from the EU Modernization Fund.

“According to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, companies are required to notify their public procurement tenders in the EU when the estimated value of the contract exceeds 250 million euros and when the company has been awarded foreign financial contributions of at least 4 million euro from at least one third country in the three years preceding the notification.

Following the preliminary examination of all observations, the Commission considered it justified to initiate an in-depth investigation for two bidders, as there are sufficient indications that both have received foreign subsidies that distort the internal market,” the EC states.

Both consortia submitted a full notification on 4 March 2024. The Commission now has 110 working days from that date to take a decision. Initiating an in-depth investigation does not affect the outcome of the investigation.