Romania grants EUR 70m for solar PV manufacturing, BESS projects

The Romanian Energy Ministry has signed contracts to distribute close to EUR 70 million (USD 76.3m) in grant funding that will support the construction of a 1.5-GW solar panel manufacturing plant and five large-scale battery storage system (BESS) projects.

The subsidies will be allocated under the country’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja said on Monday.

Almost half of the overall financing will go for a photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing project proposed by Romania-based Helomit Srl. The company will receive a grant of EUR 32.9 million for its plan to build a solar panel factory in Barlad, in Vaslui County in eastern Romania close to the border with Moldova.

The remaining funding will be distributed among five projects that will collectively add almost 800 MWh of battery energy storage capacity in the Balkan country.

Specifically, Aukera Project Company Delta Srl will receive EUR 9.9 million in grants to install a 300-MWh battery in Ialomita county, southeastern Romania, and EUR 6.1 million will be given to Baboia Solar Plant SRL for a 121.9-MWh facility in Giurgiu county, on the border with Bulgaria.

HQ Plus Sel will get EUR 4.3 million for its 79.2-MWh energy storage project in Mures country, where HQ Curat Srl will also build a 91.4-MWh battery with a grant of EUR 4.9 million.

An additional EUR 10.7 million has been earmarked for Energy Capital Group Srl’s project to install a 199.1-MWh battery in Caras-Severin county.

With the contracts, Romania has secured 20% of the capacity needed to meet its energy storage requirements, the Minister said.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.089)

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