Renalfa Romania, part of a major player in the regional renewable energy (RES) market, is strengthening its local presence through the acquisition of one of the largest projects in the country – Săceni, Teleorman, 258 MWac. Romania is accelerating its energy transition, and Renalfa Romania is making a decisive contribution by developing renewable energy sources and storage technologies. The interview with George Tecușan, Country Manager of Renalfa Romania, delves into the company’s plans, ongoing projects, regional synergies, and future outlooks.

 

Dear Mr. George Tecușan, what are the main strategic directions for Renalfa Romania in the coming years regarding renewable energy projects?

Renalfa Solarpro Group GmbH, headquartered in Vienna, is a clean energy and e-mobility investment group specializing in renewable energy generation assets. Our group operates across several countries, including Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, and North Macedonia, focusing on the development and operation of solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, and battery energy storage systems (BESS).

One of the group’s subsidiaries, Solarpro Holding, is a leading European engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) and operations and maintenance (O&M) provider. With over 1.100 professionals, Solarpro has installed more than 7 GW of PV capacity in over 30 countries. Their expertise extends to hybrid projects that integrate PV, wind, BESS, and green hydrogen solutions.

Renalfa Solarpro Group is also active in the e-mobility sector through its subsidiaries. SPARK operates a fleet of nearly 2,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in Lithuania and Bulgaria, offering eco-friendly car-sharing services. Additionally, Eldrive manages over 2,100 EV charging points across Bulgaria, Romania, and Lithuania. The company has already a fully funded business plan for going up to 10,000 EV charging points in the next four years.

KER Toki Power, a subsidiary of Renalfa Solarpro Group, is an electricity trading company specializing in innovative, digital electricity services through its TOKI platform. Founded in 2022, it offers fixed and market-based pricing, as well as green energy with guarantees of origin, serving businesses and individuals and it is active across Southeastern Europe, in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and North Macedonia.

In collaboration with the French infrastructure fund manager RGREEN INVEST, Renalfa Solarpro Group established Renalfa IPP, a developer and independent power producer. Renalfa IPP owns and develops PV, BESS, and wind projects with a combined capacity of approximately 2 GW in Bulgaria, Hungary, North Macedonia, and Romania. This includes around 300 MW already operational, about 460 MW under construction, and approximately 1 GW in late-stage development. Renalfa IPP is actively hybridizing its existing assets, with more than 300 MWh BESS in construction at the moment. The new capacity in Hungary and Bulgaria will be operational in the second quarter of 2025. In Romania, as Renalfa IPP, we do intend to reach 1 GW installed capacity by 2030, capacity that will be spread across PV, onshore wind and BESS assets, both collocated and stand alone.

 

What are your plans for developing and implementing storage solutions in Romania?

Renalfa IPP has already experience in implementing BESS in the region. In June 2024, we commenced commercial operation of a 25 MW/55 MWh BESS co-located with the Razlog solar project (33 MWp) in Bulgaria. This project is the largest operating BESS system in Bulgaria and one of the first of such scale in Eastern Europe. Our plan is to implement storage solutions for all our renewable energy projects to enhance grid stability, optimise renewable energy utilisation, and support the transition to a resilient and sustainable energy system. The first step in this direction on the Romanian market, as already announced, will be the installation of 1,000 MWh of storage together with our newly acquired 258 MWac PV plant in Teleorman.

 

Could you provide details about their status and the technologies being used within your project portfolio in Romania?

Renalfa IPP is developing the Studina solar power plant in Southern Romania, a joint investment with CWP Europe. The project has a planned capacity of 174 MWp and is expected to become operational this summer.

In addition to the 258 MWac PV project acquired at the end of 2024, Renalfa IPP is in advanced discussions for other late-stage projects in Romania, including solar, wind, and BESS.

In terms of technology, we are working with top-tier suppliers to cover our projects. In this way, we are able to deliver the highest performance during the operations phase.

 

How do you view the synergy between Renalfa’s regional projects and those in Romania? Are there examples of technologies or practices being transferred between markets?

The large footprint of our group, both geographical and business wise, allows us to create important synergies between our entities and our projects. Renalfa IPP operates across multiple countries, including Bulgaria, Hungary, North Macedonia, and Romania, enhancing the transfer of knowledge, technologies, and best practices between markets. For example, the implementation of the 25 MW/55 MWh BESS in Bulgaria demonstrates our capability in energy storage solutions, which will be applied to future projects in Romania. Another example we can look at is Solarpro Holding, a leading European EPC and O&M provider, which is contributing with the best expertise to deliver top-quality renewable energy projects.

 

What types of partnerships is Renalfa aiming for in Romania to achieve its objectives? Do you collaborate with local authorities, private companies, or other entities?

Renalfa IPP engages in joint investments and partnerships to develop renewable energy projects. For example, in Romania, we are already in a partnership with CWP Europe for the Studina solar power plant. Such collaborations involve working with local authorities, private companies, and other stakeholders to achieve our objectives. We strongly believe that a good business ecosystem is one of the key success factors for our projects, and such a system cannot exist without the contribution of the local and central authorities and other private companies.

 

How do you perceive the current legislative and regulatory framework in Romania regarding renewable energy and storage solutions? What improvements would be necessary?

As any long-term investor with significant investment objectives in Romania, we want to have a predictable legislative and regulatory framework, both for the specific energy related topics, but also for the fiscal and tax environment. We are confident that Romanian authorities will offer this type of environment for the investors, which is critical to deploy the large amounts of capital needed for our projects. Renewable energy investments will strengthen Romania’s energy security and will contribute to a clean environment for all of us.

 

What are the biggest challenges you face in implementing projects in Romania, and how do you plan to overcome them?

As any player in the energy sector, we do face challenges in implementing our projects. Maybe the most important one is the need for extended electricity infrastructure to accommodate the increasing renewable energy capacity. Better grids will allow a better and faster integration of RES and BESS assets, which will be of great usage for the Romanian economy.

At this moment, there is also a strong competition for skilled people to contribute to the implementation of renewable energy projects. Human resources are key in achieving our goals; therefore we are looking for the best people on the market to join our team.