Every euro invested in renewable energy generation returns 0.3 euros to the economy and every billion euros invested generates 6.1 jobs. Both Romania and Europe need to start producing as much as possible of their equipment needs for this industry, said Irene Mihai, Policy Officer, Romanian Photovoltaic Association (RPIA).

“Most of the components are produced in one geographical region, Asia-Pacific, mainly in China. This is a vulnerability. Value chains are exposed to risks created by external factors that can affect the availability of equipment and that is why local – European and Romanian – development must be accelerated,” Mihai said, at the conference “2024: A defining year for the renewable energy sector in Romania”.

Across Europe, especially in Germany, there are 166 companies producing various components for photovoltaic panels, mostly polysilicon. Romania does not have any such manufacturer, although a number of plans to finance the production of various components for 200 MW photovoltaic panels are mentioned in the NRRP. The realisation of this plan should be supported, including through a government funding scheme and the development of a favourable legal framework.

At the same time, the EU estimates that by 2030 it will be able to provide an internal production capacity of 30 GW (equipment, cells, modules, etc.). But Europe’s “ambitious and necessary” target is to have 600-750 GW of renewable generation capacity in 2030.

CHECK The numbers in the “Monitor of the Romanian Photovoltaic Projects”

“We are now at a time when the EU’s security objectives and climate objectives are perfectly aligned. We need to make this transition both for energy security reasons and for reasons of tackling the climate crisis, and photovoltaics have a key role to play in this context,” she added.

The conference “2024: A defining year for the renewable energy sector in Romania” was organized by Energynomics with the support of our partners: ADC, Alive Capital, CRC Energy, Elektra Renewable Support, EnergoPower, Ensys, Extro, Horváth, ING Bank, LONGi Solar, Monsson Operation, Nofar Energy, OX2 România, Photomate, PNE Romania, Polytrade Global, REI Grup, Renomia, Sph3ra Management Solutions, Transelectrica, WALDEVAR Energy, Wiren Romania. On this occasion, Energynomics launched its first report under the initiative “Monitor of the Romanian Photovoltaic Projects”.