Energy Holding hydro stations bring in a profiEnergy Holding hydro stations bring in a profit

The electricity trader Energy Holding derived profit from electrical power production during the very first year it began operating the five micro hydropower stations it took over one year ago.

“In 2005, owing to favourable hydro conditions, these stations were profitable, a situation that allows us to make further investments to modernise them,” stated Enrique Ferrer, chairman of the company.

Through the privatisation contract signed with Hidroelectrica, the company engaged in an investment programme worth 800,000 euros, covering a five-year period beginning 2005, targeting the rehabilitation and modernisation of the five micro hydro stations.

In 2005, investments carried out by the company amounted to 110,000 euros.

At the end of 2004, in the wake of a public tender, Energy Holding acquired five micro hydro stations located on the Topolog river, Arges county.

In the first three quarters of the year the company registered turnover worth 690 million RON (190 million euros), 44% higher than the level posted during the same period last year. Reported net income rose by 117% from the first three quarters of 2004, reaching a value of 25.7 million RON (7.11 million euros). The main factors contributing to these results were the expansion of the customer base and of the quantity of the power supplied.

“During 2005, our position on the segment of private suppliers of electricity on the Romanian market strengthened, and we managed to expand our customer base and also increase the quantity of electrical power sold,” explained Ferrer.

The company”s representatives forecast turnover worth 900 million RON (about 250 million euros) would be reached by yearend.

Beside Energy Holding, the power trader segment includes several players such as Romelectro, or Energy Financing Team, a British firm that has recently announced its entrance onto the Romanian market through the opening of an office. The liberalisation of the Romanian power market, which should be finalised in 2007, has attracted the interest of increasingly more international players.

Energy Holding announces plans to expand in the Balkans, and will enter the Greek and Bulgarian markets next year through two subsidiaries supplying electrical power.

“In 2005, Energy Holding started to expand on the market of south-eastern Europe, by initiating procedures linked to the establishment of some subsidiaries in Bulgaria and Greece, countries where we will be present in the near future as electricity suppliers for large and medium-sized industrial consumers,” stated Ferrer. roxana.petrescu@zf.ro