LONGi Ignites Romania’s Energy Transition with 54.1MW BC Technology Triumph

LONGi Solar, a global leader in solar technology, has deployed 54.1MW of Hi-MO 9 back contact (BC) modules at Romania’s CEF Chișineu-Criș, Arad County, solar park. Developed for NEPI Rockcastle (the SOLPOWER Energy subsidiary) and engineered by EPC partner Enevo Group, this utility-scale project—Romania’s largest solar installation for retail infrastructure—will positively impact the directly pathway for decarbonization ate NEPI Rockcastle’s property portfolio in Romania, showcasing BC technology’s pivotal role in grid-scale renewable transitions.

The Chișineu-Criș facility in Arad County features 84,000 Hi-MO 9 modules, strategically deployed to maximize energy autonomy for NEPI Rockcastle’s retail assets in Romania. The plant has been in full ownership of the leading owner and developer of shopping centers across Central and Eastern Europe since last year. Construction has started in January2025 and remains on schedule for Q4 2025 grid connection. The project exemplifies BC technology’s scalability, with Hi-MO 9’s 24.8% module efficiency and -0.26%/°C temperature coefficient ensuring optimal performance in Romania’s continental climate.

"This project exemplifies how BC technology transforms utility-scale solar into a reliable backbone for major infrastructure. Hi-MO 9’s unmatched performance ensures NEPI Rockcastle’s portfolio achieves energy stability" stated Mirel Jarnea,Country Manager Utility Scale Business Unit of LONGi.

Faced with Romania’s grid limitations and land efficiency demands, Hi-MO 9’s back contact architecture eliminated front-grid shading losses to achieve 8% higher yield versus TOPCon products. Its PID/LID resistance guarantees 30-year performance stability—critical for NEPI Rockcastle’s long-term asset strategy—while minimizing maintenance costs across the 54.1MW site.

Eduard Meiloiu, Executive Director Renewables BU of ENEVO said “Our collaboration with LONGi has been seamless from start to finish, reflecting a truly efficient and aligned partnership. BC technology brought clear engineering advantages — from higher efficiency and improved thermal performance to long-term reliability. Our engineering team greatly appreciated the precision and flexibility of the solution, which enabled us to deliver a robust project tailored to local conditions and fully aligned with Romania’s sustainability goals."

This project is expected to generate around 70,171 MWh of clean electricity each year, which is enough to power approximately 29,300 Romanian homes. In doing so, it will also help avoid around 21,100 tons of CO₂ emissions annually, as contribution to climate goals. Beyond environmental benefits, the project will create over 100 local jobs and give priority to regional contractors, boosting the local economy.

By aligning climate mitigation with local economic development, this utility-scale solar initiative highlights how renewable infrastructure can meaningfully contribute to emissions reduction and socio-economic resilience.

“NEPI Rockcastle’s green energy program is advancing through three major stages, reflecting our long-term commitment to sustainability and decarbonization. We’re investing €110 million in new photovoltaic projects, including solar panel installations across 23 properties in CEE and greenfield developments in Romania totaling 159 MW in capacity.These efforts already enable us to generate 6% of our portfolio’s electricity needs and will help us reach our target of 84% renewable electricity usage. As part of this program, we partnered with LONGi specifically for the Chișineu-Criș solar project, where their high-efficiency photovoltaic modules are helping us deliver a flagship utility-scale development in Romania. This collaboration supports our strategic goal of enhancing the use of electricity from renewable source and energy autonomy of our retail assets” concluded Andrei Radu, Group Development Director at NEPI Rockcastle.

As Eastern Europe’s premier solar portfoliodirectly powering retail infrastructure, CEF Chișineu-Criș establishes areplicable model for large-scale renewable integration. With NEPI Rockcastleplanning expansion across its property network, LONGi’s BC technology standsready to accelerate Europe’s utility-scale revolution.

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About Enevo Group

ENEVO Group is a Romanian engineering company with the mission to provide innovative and efficient solutions to clients in the international energy sector.

ENEVO Group is a general contractor specialized in the construction and modernization of electrical substations, renewable power plants, and industrial process automation systems. The company is built around an experienced, multidisciplinary team that includes specialists in energy, civil construction, automation, telecommunications, and cybersecurity for critical infrastructures.

The company is organized into three business divisions – Renewables, Power T&D, and Automation – and covers the entire project development cycle: from engineering to the delivery of turnkey solutions.

ENEVO Group has offices in Romania, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom, a multinational team of over 350 employees, and its client portfolio includes some of the largest companies in the world.

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About NEPI Rockcastle

NEPI Rockcastle is Europe’s third-largest listed retail real estate company by investment portfolio value and the largest owner, operator, and developer of shopping centers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The company’s €8bn portfolio is located across eight CEE countries and includes 60 properties. It is a market leader in Romania and Poland (NEPI Rockcastle’s two largest markets) and has shopping centers in Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, The Czech Republic, and Lithuania.

NEPI Rockcastle’s growth is enhanced by a substantial development programme (the current pipeline amounts to €788 million in total investments), accompanied by accretive acquisitions (its latest acquisitions were Magnolia Park Shopping Centre in Wroclaw, Poland in September 2024 and Silesia City Center in Katowice, Poland in December 2024, with a total value of 760 million euro).NEPI Rockcastle benefits from two key strategic advantages – its unique portfolio of retail space across the CEE, assembled over the past 15 years, and its team of over 650 employees, who bring unparalleled industry knowledge. 

More details here: www.nepirockcastle.com

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About LONGi

Founded in 2000, LONGi is committed to being the world’s leading solar technology company,focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation.

Under its mission of'making the best of solar energy to build a green world', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established several business sectors,covering mono silicon wafers cells and modules, commercial & industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment. The company has honed its capabilities to provide green energy and has more recently, also embraced green hydrogen products and solutions to support global zero carbon development.

www.longi.com