Romania assumes storage as the zero priority of the national energy system, and through the contracts signed on Monday on PNRR we will already reach 20% of the country’s storage needs, claims the Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja.

According to a press release quoted by Agerpres, the Ministry of Energy has fulfilled two more milestones in the PNRR, for storage capacities in batteries and the production of photovoltaic panels.

“Romania assumes storage as the zero priority of the national energy system, and through the contracts signed today on PNRR we will already reach 20% of the country’s storage needs. Moreover, by financing the photovoltaic panel factory in Bârlad with 33 million euros , non-refundable funds, we are starting the revitalization of the Romanian industry in the context of the energy transition,” said Sebastian Burduja, quoted in the press release.

On Monday, November 4, 2024, the Minister of Energy signed several key investment contracts for Romania’s energy security.

According to the quoted source, five projects signed on Monday support the storage of energy in batteries, part of the Call for Projects PNRR/2022/C6/M Energy and contribute with a total capacity of 791.48 MWh.

The non-reimbursable support is worth more than 30 million euros, money provided by PNRR.

“It is essential to ensure that, in the future, the energy system can cope with peak demand, ensuring the stability of the national energy system and allowing us to benefit from the green energy produced by solar and wind farms even when the sun is not shining or not the more MW we add in green energy production capacities, the greater the need for storage. All these investments will be seen in the coming years in lower bills for Romanians and companies in our country “, added the Minister of Energy.

The signed projects include: Aukera Project Company Delta SRL – Project of 299.75 MWh in Gura Ialomiței, Ialomița county, with a state aid of 9.89 million euros; Baboia Solar Plant SRL – Project of 121.92 MWh in Ogrezeni, Giurgiu county, with an aid of 6.05 million euros; HQ Plus SRL – 79.24 MWh project in Sânpaul commune, Mures county, with 4.27 million euros; Energy Capital Group SRL – 199.13 MWh project in the village of Iaz, Caraş-Severin county, with 10.71 million euros; HQ Curat SRL – Project of 91.44 MWh in Sânpaul commune, Mures county, with 4.93 million euros.

“On this call, 118 projects were submitted. 38 were approved, subject to being included in the budget of the measure, and for 13 projects the pre-contracting notices have already been sent. These 13 projects have a total value of the requested state aid of 73,759,052.16 euros and a total installed capacity of approx. 1575 MWh”, the press release states.

Also on Monday, the Minister of Energy signed “a historic contract” to support the production of photovoltaic panels in our country. Through call I 4.3, Supporting investments in the entire value chain of photovoltaic cells and panels, five projects were submitted, three of which were approved and will benefit from a total aid of 47.79 million euros for a capacity of 1,779 MW/year .

Also, according to the press release, on November 4, 2024, a contract was signed with Heliomit SRL for the construction of a photovoltaic panel factory in Bârlad, Vaslui county, with a state aid of 32.92 million euros and a capacity of 1,500 MW /year.

“The energy transition includes challenges, but also commensurate opportunities. The billions of euros that we managed to attract for investments in new solar parks must remain in Romania as much as possible. That is why it is a great joy to be able to finance a large factory of photovoltaic panels in Bârlad, in Vaslui County, with a capacity of 1500MW. It is the second such investment financed by the Ministry of Energy in Sfântu Gheorghe. Thus, the revitalization of the Romanian industry has begun, and the ambition is not only to stop importing all this equipment from other areas, but let’s make Romania a quality supplier for the entire European market. The support of almost 33 million euros will mean jobs, competitive salaries in a less developed area of ​​the country and Romania’s chance to benefit fully from the energy transition towards a safer, more accessible and greener energy. All these successfully signed contracts are the merit of the beneficiaries who undertook the investments, but also the merit of a team of super-professionals from the Ministry of Energy, wonderful people to whom I thank for what I do every day”, said Sebastian Burduja.