As part of an updated investment plan, Romanian power company Hidroelectrica intends to build 600 MW of wind capacity by 2026, including a 300 MW offshore wind farm that would be the first to be built in the Black Sea, local reports in the south-eastern European nation.

The news came as an International Finance Corporation (IFC) new report and World Bank said the Black Sea has a 500GW 'technical' sea-based wind power resource.

To date, there are no concrete proposals to build wind turbines in Black Sea waters, which are landlocked by Turkey, Bulgaria , Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia.

Turkey had planned to have a region in the Kıyıköy area of the Black Sea in preparations for an offshore wind tender scheduled for 2018 but was later scrapped.

Romania did not build any new wind turbines last year, and according to WindEurope estimates, it has a total wind power of 3GW, all on ground. That includes the Fantanele-Cogealac 600MW complex – one of the largest in Europe – in Dobrogea province, near the Black Sea.

Maritime Business World