Romania

Romania’s Ministry of Energy has published a draft order outlining a move to an auction-based grid-connection process for solar projects above 1 MW in size. The change, which is currently subject to public consultation, could be implemented from January 2025.

Econergy and NoFar Energy unveiled their jointly managed 155 MW Rătești PV Park in Romania’s south last week, which is claimed to be the country’s largest PV facility. An Econergy spokesperson told pv magazine that the plant, spread across 170 hectares, will be connected to the electricity grid by the end of the month.

Romania is set to launch its first auction for a contracts-for-difference (CfD) support scheme later this month. It will tender 2 GW of solar and wind capacity, backed by 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Romanian utility Electrica SA has launched a tender for a 12 MW solar project. Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors have until July 27 to submit their offers.

Romania’s OMV Petrom has acquired a 710 MW solar project portfolio. It said that all of the PV installations are all close to the ready-to-build stage.

The Romanian government has issued long-anticipated secondary regulations for the deployment of storage systems.

The Romanian authorities say that its new state budget will facilitate the deployment of more than 150,000 PV systems.

The Romanian president has passed a new law to shorten the permitting process for solar projects built on less than 50 hectares of agricultural land.

The Romanian Ministry of Energy has started seeking expressions of interest for its first renewables auction, likely to be held the end of June. Developers have until Dec. 30 to express interest.

The Romanian government has decided to make it easier to connect rooftop PV systems to the grid. The new rules, which will go into force soon, could spur the development of solar arrays under the country’s net metering regime.