GDF Suez expands wind energy footprint

French energy company GDF Suez said expanding its wind energy portfolio in Romania and Poland is part of a broader plan for a greener Europe. GDF Suez announced plans to develop a 48 megawatt wind farm in Romania and a 51 MW facility in Poland. The Romanian wind farm, expected to come online this year, is the French company's first power production foray into the Romanian market. "The development of the group's wind projects in Romania and Poland demonstrates our desire to improve the diversification of the GDF Suez energy mix and to continue its expansion in promising markets through the best use of the group's expertise and technical synergies," Gerard Mestrallet, chairman and chief executive officer of GDF Suez, said in a statement. The European Union has bloc-wide ambitions to decarbonize the economy by the middle of the century. The January commissioning of a 12 MW wind farm in France put GDF Suez over the 1,000 MW mark for installed domestic wind power. The company had said most of the business generated by the wind sector will be developed in France. It said it aims to double its installed renewable energy capacity in Europe by 2015, however.