Romania is holding talks with a consortium comprising Japanese corporation Itochu and French energy giant Electricite de France (EDF) for the development of the Tarnita-Lapustesti pumped hydro storage (PHS) power plant, Romania's energy minister Sebastian Burduja said.

The consortium is interested in designing and building the PHS plant in the northwestern county of Cluj, Burduja said in a social media post on Tuesday.

The Tarnita-Lapustesti PHS facility is a 50-year-old project, whose development has been put off for decades. Once built, it would increase Romania's energy storage capacity by 1,000 MW. Its construction would require an investment of around 1 billion euro ($1.097 billion), according to information published on the energy ministry's website.

The talks with the Japanese-French consortium follow an unsuccessful attempt by Romania's Energy Shareholdings Administration Association, SAPE, to award the contract for the feasibility study of the project through a tender, Burduja said. The two companies are willing to carry out the necessary feasibility study using their own funds, the energy minister added.

EDF is producing more than 16% of the European Union's electricity, as per the statement. Itochu is a major Japanese corporation operating in several industries, including energy, machinery, metals, textiles, food, ICT, and real estate.