Enery, OMV Petrom Launch Joint Venture for Bulgaria 400-MW Solar

• Enery and OMV Petrom form a 50-50 joint venture to build the 400 MW Gabare solar park in Bulgaria, eyeing 600 MWh storage and EUR 200 m investment by 2027.

Austria’s Enery Development and Romania’s OMV Petrom have signed a 50-50 joint-venture agreement to build the Gabare photovoltaic park, a 400-MW solar complex planned near Byala Slatina, some 85 km north of Sofia. The partners intend to invest roughly EUR 200 million by 2027, partly through external financing, and have already secured construction permits and grid-connection rights. 

Designed with single-axis tracking to squeeze maximum output from Bulgaria’s high-irradiance Danubian Plain, Gabare is expected to generate enough electricity to power about 150,000 homes and cut roughly 260,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year. The developers are also evaluating the addition of a battery-energy-storage system of up to 600 MWh, which would enable the plant to shift daytime surplus into Bulgaria’s evening peak and help the national grid smooth volatility as more renewables come online. 

For OMV Petrom—Southeastern Europe’s largest integrated energy producer—the deal accelerates a regional diversification drive that has already seen the company co-develop 450 MW of solar projects on former Romanian lignite pits. Chief Executive Christina Verchere called the Bulgarian venture “a landmark step that underpins our ambition to reach 1 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 while supporting the EU’s net-zero roadmap.” Enery’s CEO Richard König described the 400-MW platform as “a template for bankable utility-scale solar in the Balkans, marrying strong local development with long-term PPA backing.” 

Bulgaria has pledged to lift the share of renewables in final electricity consumption to 30 percent by 2030, up from 23 percent today. Analysts say shovel-ready, privately financed projects like Gabare will be critical, as the country faces EU pressure to accelerate coal retirements yet still grapples with grid constraints and a limited auction pipeline. By securing all key permits before financial close, the venture avoids the bottlenecks that have stalled several rival schemes. Construction is slated to start in early 2026, with first power targeted for late 2027.