Simtel has signed a power purchase agreement for the output of its 5.35 MW Salonta solar plant in western Romania. The buyer is GES Furnizare, an electricity supplier. On paper it is a modest contract between two companies. The detail that changes how to read it is who owns the buyer.
Key takeaways
- Simtel signed a PPA with GES Furnizare for the Salonta solar plant in Romania, announced on 5 August 2024, under which Simtel will deliver about 6.5 GWh of electricity a year to GES.
- The Simtel and GES Furnizare PPA runs for five years and five months, one of the shortest terms among Romanian PPAs that Enerdatics records for 2024.
- GES Furnizare is part of Simtel Group, with Simtel Team holding a 62 percent stake in the company, so the Salonta PPA is a contract between a generator and a supplier inside the same group.
- GES Furnizare will sell the electricity from the 5.35 MW Salonta solar plant on to its own portfolio of final customers.
- None of the 23 Romanian PPAs that Enerdatics records from the start of 2024 onward discloses a tariff, and the Simtel contract is no exception.
Why would Simtel sign a PPA with its own supplier?
Because a contract inside a group still does a job that a handshake cannot. A PPA, or power purchase agreement, fixes who buys a generator's output, for how long and on what terms. Even when both sides answer to the same shareholders, writing that down gives the solar plant a defined route to market and gives the supplier a defined source of power.
GES Furnizare is a supply company, which in Romania means it buys electricity and sells it to end users. It does not need to own generation to do that. But a supplier with its own contracted volume is less exposed to wholesale prices for that share of its book. A generator with a contracted buyer is less exposed to selling into the spot market. Linking the two inside one group turns two price risks into a single internal transfer.
The ownership split explains why the contract is formal rather than implied. Simtel Team holds 62 percent of GES, not all of it. Where a subsidiary has outside shareholders, transactions with the parent generally need clear terms so that value is not shifted between the two without the minority's agreement. A written PPA provides that.
What does a five-year term mean for a solar plant?
It means the contract covers only part of the plant's life. Solar plants typically run for decades, and long-term corporate PPAs are designed to match that. A five-year contract instead gives the owner a medium-term floor under its revenue and leaves the later years open to renegotiation or a new buyer.
That shorter horizon fits the intra-group structure. A third-party buyer committing for 10 or 15 years usually wants that length to justify its own commitment. A supplier owned by the generator's group has less reason to lock in so far ahead, because the group can revisit the arrangement when market conditions change. Five years and five months reads as a pricing period rather than a financing structure.
The volume is consistent with the plant. Spreading 6.5 GWh across 5.35 MW for a year implies a capacity factor of about 14 percent, which suggests the contract covers essentially the plant's full expected output rather than a slice of it.
How does the Salonta contract compare with other Romanian PPAs?
It is smaller and shorter than most. Other Romanian solar contracts that year involved much larger plants, such as OMV Petrom's supply to Saint-Gobain from the 84 MW Calarasi project and DRI's two contracts with OMV Petrom for the Vacaresti and Glodeni projects. nextE's 25-year corporate PPA for a 42.9 MW plant sat at the long end of the range.
Enerdatics records 13 PPAs in Romania announced during 2024, across solar and wind. Ten of them disclose a contract length, and the median term among those ten is 11.5 years. Only OMV Petrom's five-year contract with Saint-Gobain is shorter than Simtel's term of five years and five months. Across all 23 Romanian PPAs Enerdatics records from the start of 2024 onward, not one discloses a tariff, so contract length and volume are the only terms that can be compared.
What does the deal signal for Romania's power market?
It signals that Romanian PPAs are serving two quite different purposes. One group of contracts brings in large corporate buyers, often multinationals, signing for a decade or more to meet climate targets. The other group, which Salonta belongs to, uses the PPA as a routing device inside a business that already spans generation and supply.
Both types are visible in the same market. In 2024 alone, Enerdatics records contracts with buyers including Apple, Saint-Gobain, Bekaert and several Deutsche Telekom subsidiaries alongside Simtel's internal agreement. The buyers in the first group rarely own generation. Simtel's group owns both ends of the contract.
For investors looking at Romanian solar, the distinction matters when valuing a plant. A long contract with an unrelated buyer is a source of stable revenue that can support debt. A short contract with a related supplier keeps the plant's output inside the group but offers less protection beyond its five-year horizon. Recent Romanian solar transactions such as OMV Petrom's purchase of half of Renovatio's solar portfolio show how buyers are pricing generation in the market, and the route to market is part of that price.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the buyer in Simtel's Salonta solar PPA? The buyer is GES Furnizare, an electricity supplier that is part of Simtel Group, with Simtel Team holding a 62 percent stake. GES will sell the power on to its portfolio of final customers.
How long is the Simtel and GES Furnizare PPA? The PPA runs for five years and five months. Among the ten Romanian PPAs of 2024 that disclose a term in Enerdatics' records, the median length is 11.5 years.
How much electricity will the Salonta solar plant supply? Simtel will deliver about 6.5 GWh a year to GES Furnizare from the 5.35 MW Salonta plant. The tariff has not been disclosed.
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