Etem Gestamp, the Sofia-based joint venture between Viohalco Group and Spain’s Gestamp Group focused on aluminium extrusion and processing for the automotive industry, and Rezolv Energy, the Actis-backed independent power producer, have signed a 10-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) in Bulgaria.

The VPPA will see Etem Gestamp buy electricity from Rezolv Energy’s 461MW ‘VIFOR’ wind farm, which is about to come onstream in Buzău County, Romania. It is the first cross-border wind PPA that has been publicly announced in Bulgaria.

The agreement is Rezolv Energy’s first PPA of 2026 and Etem Gestamp’s third PPA overall. In 2022, the company signed a 10-year deal to buy 100% of the electricity produced by a solar plant which was then still under construction in Bulgaria. This was the first PPA in Bulgaria in which an industrial consumer of electricity agreed to buy all of the green electricity produced by a solar plant. The new wind VPPA with Rezolv Energy will complement this supply of solar power and allow Etem Gestamp to balance its electricity consumption profile.

This agreement reinforces Etem Gestamp’s commitment to transforming its industrial processes and advancing towards more sustainable production, with a strong emphasis on electrification, energy efficiency, and the use of renewable energy sources. In line with this ambition, the company expects that by 2027, around 70% of its energy mix will come from renewable sources.

Furthermore, this partnership will support Etem Gestamp in continuing to make meaningful progress in the decarbonisation of the automotive industry’s supply chain.

The deal is Rezolv Energy’s seventh PPA in Romania and Bulgaria, and the second with a company from the automotive sector. In 2024, the company signed a 10-year VPPA with Bekaert, a global leader in steel wire transformation and coating technologies with a substantial business in the automotive industry. The deal will see Bekaert buy 100 GWh of power per year from the VIFOR wind farm, one of the largest PPAs ever signed in Southeastern Europe. Rezolv Energy has also signed PPAs with T-Mobile Czech Republic, Slovak Telekom and Ardagh Glass Packaging-Europe.