Romania

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Oana Ijdelea, the founder and managing partner of Romanian law firm Ijdelea & Associates. She says there is no objective blockage impeding women from pursuing a career in the renewable sector. There is, however, a vicious circle where women may become reluctant to apply for a position where males appear to be more present, and on the other hand, the lack of female presence in such roles does not encourage other women to step in.

Consortia featuring subsidiaries of Chinese solar module maker Longi and Chinese industrial conglomerate Shanghai Electric have withdrawn from a public procurement tender for a solar park in Romania. The European Commission opened two anti-subsidy investigations into their involvement, which have now been closed.

Romanian developer Monsson has installed a 24 MWh battery storage system as the first stage of a 216 MWh project. The storage unit forms part of Romania’s first hybrid PV-wind-battery system.

The European authorities are trying to determine whether two consortia – including subsidiaries of Longi and Shanghai Electric – violated the new EU rules on foreign subsidies when they participated in a procurement process in Romania for a 110 MW solar farm. The European Commission is expected to make a final decision within 110 working days.

Romania’s OMV Petrom has launched an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) tender for the Theia solar project, which it acquired from Danish developer Jantzen Renewables in July 2023.

Korkia, a Finland-based renewables investor, says that solar projects it is developing with Romania’s Econous Green Energ are set to be licensed and will be ready for construction from next year.

Romania has set a ceiling price of €91 ($99.33)/MWh for solar energy in its first renewables auction. A legal analyst tells pv magazine that this strike price is a good level for the nation’s first contract-for-difference (CfD) auction, but warns that certain aspects of the draft legislation could significantly affect the bankability of the scheme.

TeraPlast SA has secured financing for 4.56 MW of solar, with approximately one-quarter of the project’s total value obtained through non-refundable financing from the Romanian government’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The project, which will include a 920 kW storage facility, is set to be completed in June.

The European Commission has approved €3 billion ($3.9 billion) for solar and onshore wind projects in Romania, with two-way contracts-for-difference through competitive bidding procedures.

Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has reaffirmed its commitment to hydrogen car development, PT PLN has started producing green hydrogen in Indonesia, and OMV Petrom has agreed to build 55 MW of green hydrogen production capacity in Romania.