The payback period for batteries is the shortest among any infrastructure asset class, with a maximum of five years. This makes it an excellent opportunity for investors during this period, said Filip Radu, Co-founder of Silmaril Storage, at the conference “International Approach: Catalyzing Romania’s energy future”, organised by Energynomics in London.

“Extremely high balancing prices and spot prices—sometimes even negative prices—are clear indicators of a storage deficit. From a financing perspective, this results in highly attractive prices across the revenue stack, including some of the highest spreads in the day-ahead market and balancing prices. These conditions are incredibly favorable. For those still hesitant or skeptical about the investment potential of batteries, I would say that if you invest today, you’ll recover your money quickly, and everything after that is essentially pure profit,” he added.

Investing in batteries presents challenges, but for those confident in the future of renewable energy, particularly in photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy, the importance of storage and flexibility is undeniable. As the storage market continues to grow, the need for greater flexibility will only increase. Regulators, governments, Transmission System Operators (TSOs), and Distribution System Operators (DSOs) are expected to place more emphasis on flexibility, especially storage, and work on developing specialized system services.

The potential for flexibility within the Romanian market is promising, and substantial investments are already being made in this area. According to Radu, there is no reason why Romania cannot emulate the success of the UK and other advanced markets in the storage sector, positioning itself as a key player in the energy transition.

“You don’t need to believe in them; you just need to look around—storage is here for the long term, and it will continue to generate profit. You can’t predict exactly how things will unfold in 10 years, but the fact remains that we need storage, and because of that, it will be remunerated,” he concluded.

The conference “International Approach: Catalyzing Romania’s energy future” was organised by Energynomics in London with the support of our partners AJ Brand, Elektra Renewable Support, Adrem Asset Management, Enexus, Nofar Energy, Parapet, Wiren.