Romanian wind project places 77MW Nordex order

Nordex has received an order to supply and install 11 N175/6.X turbines for the 77MW Urleasca onshore wind farm in southeastern Romania.

The contract was placed by Swedish renewable energy developer OX2 and includes a 35-year Premium Service agreement. OX2 has sold the ready-to-build project to Scatec while retaining responsibility for overseeing construction from its planned start in the third quarter of 2026.

Commissioning is scheduled for the second half of 2028. The wind farm will be built near the village of Urleasca in Brăila County, around 150km north-east of Bucharest, and holds a long-term contract for difference with the Romanian state.

The transaction separates several roles across the project. Scatec becomes the long-term owner, OX2 remains responsible for construction delivery, and Nordex supplies the turbines and provides service support across much of the wind farm’s operating life.

Large rotors target higher site yield

The N175/6.X forms part of Nordex’s Delta4000 platform and uses a 175-metre rotor. The turbine has a swept area of more than 24,000 square metres and is available at rated outputs in the upper six-megawatt range, allowing 11 units to provide the project’s stated 77MW capacity.

Its single-piece rotor blades are approximately 86 metres long. The large rotor is designed to capture more energy at low and medium wind speeds, while the platform can be configured with different hub heights and operating modes to match site conditions, transport constraints, noise requirements, and grid specifications.

Slava Feklin, country manager for Romania and Ukraine at Nordex, said Romania “continues to offer attractive opportunities for the deployment of modern wind energy technology.” The Urleasca order takes Nordex’s recently contracted Romanian capacity beyond 500MW, increasing the importance of local project execution and service capability.

A large rotor can raise annual energy production, but it also increases the demands placed on logistics and construction. Blade transport requires route surveys, temporary traffic measures, suitable turning radii, and carefully sequenced deliveries.

Foundations, towers, cranes, hardstands, and assembly activities must be designed around the turbine configuration and the site’s ground and weather conditions. Delays in one part of that sequence can affect several later work packages, particularly where heavy-lift equipment has limited availability.

The 35-year service agreement is therefore a material part of the order rather than an administrative addition. Over that period, turbine availability will depend on planned maintenance, condition monitoring, spare-parts access, major-component strategy, software support, and the ability to respond to faults.

Long service contracts can also support project financing by giving lenders and owners a clearer framework for operating costs and performance obligations. Their value depends on the detailed availability guarantees, exclusions, indexation, component responsibilities, and remedies agreed between the parties.

CfD support links construction to delivery

Urleasca’s contract for difference provides a long-term revenue framework for eligible output. Such contracts can reduce exposure to wholesale-price volatility by settling the difference between a reference market price and an agreed strike price, although precise cash flows depend on the scheme rules, metering, availability, and actual generation.

Revenue support does not remove construction risk. The project still requires roads, foundations, electrical collection systems, a substation interface, communications, protection settings, testing, and grid compliance before commercial operation can begin.

Delays in turbine delivery or connection works can affect cost and the date from which contracted revenues are earned. Coordination between owner, developer, turbine supplier, civil contractors, and grid counterparties will therefore remain central throughout the programme.

OX2’s decision to retain oversight through construction follows a develop-and-sell model in which a project is transferred to a long-term owner while the developer continues delivering it under contract. Scatec gains a ready-to-build wind asset with a defined turbine package and state-backed revenue support, while OX2 converts its development work into a construction mandate rather than leaving at the point of sale.

For Scatec, Urleasca broadens a Romanian position that already includes solar construction. Wind output follows a different generation profile from photovoltaic assets, and a mixed portfolio can reduce reliance on one weather pattern or production window.

The benefit depends on the location and market exposure of each project, but technology diversification can support a more balanced operating base. The grid must still accommodate each asset’s output, particularly during periods when regional renewable generation is high.

Romania has become an active market for renewable projects using contracts for difference, corporate power purchase agreements, and wholesale-market revenues. OX2 has assembled a substantial Romanian wind pipeline, while turbine suppliers are competing for projects able to progress from auction award and ready-to-build status into construction.

Nordex’s manufacturing network spans Germany, Spain, Brazil, India, Türkiye, and the United States, and the company has commissioned more than 64GW across over 40 markets since 1985. Urleasca will now test the less visible parts of that industrial system: component scheduling, blade transport, site assembly, commissioning resources, and long-term service mobilisation.

Construction is due to begin in the third quarter of 2026, leaving roughly two years before the planned commissioning window. The project has a turbine order, an owner, a construction manager, a CfD, and a long service agreement. Its next milestones will be physical — foundations poured, equipment delivered, grid works completed, and 11 machines brought into operation.