According to Executive Director of the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA), the Romanian Government is planning to hold the country’s first tender for renewable energy projects in the first half of 2022.
Balan said that, through these tenders, at least 3 GW of new renewable energy capacity will be added to Romania’s electricity mix by 2026. The funds to implement the tender scheme will come from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) and the EU Modernization Fund. The authorities also plan to implement a Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme from 2023, with another 3.5 GW of renewables capacity to be contracted by 2025.
He said that there are currently between 20 GW and 30 GW of large-scale renewable energy projects in various stages of development, adding that several hundred MW of renewable capacity could go online this year alone.
The reason for increased interest in RES projects are the new rules introduced in May 2020, which are more favorable for power purchase
agreements. According to Balan, all the modeling performed by RPIA indicate that the initial 2030 targets for solar will be surpassed.
He also said that Romania’s future energy landscape will be favorable to storage. Around 480 MWh of storage capacity could be deployed by the end of 2025. Currently, there are plans to have a 2 GW battery industry by the end of 2025, while solar cell and module manufacturing may also be resumed as a result of the NRRP.
