The local energy market is very much focused on the spot segment, while in other countries PPAs are used, and in the long term Romania needs aggregation, Power-to-x, PPAs, to develop projects. At the same time, Romania needs large capacities of renewables, which are most of the time intermittent technologies, said Zsuzsa Bereschi, Senior Project Manager, Energy & Utilities, Horváth, at the Energy Strategy Summit 2022, an event organised by Energynomics.

“If we have such ambitious plans on intermittent solutions, we badly need storage solutions. And here, of course, for Romania the first step will be electric batteries, but we need to think about aggregation and partnerships. We need to have confidence, we need to make the necessary partnerships for aggregation and, further on, we need to think about VPP solutions. But beyond this aggregation side, when we talk about storage, of course, the first step is batteries, but let’s not lose sight of power-to-x solutions, and as we increase intermittent capacities, we will look at hydrogen,” she said.

In order to have hydrogen, major manufacturers have to change entire production processes. “We need to ensure that there will be sufficient demand in industry and transport for hydrogen and derivatives… Power-to-X solutions are for the more distant future, but one that we must not lose sight of,” she added. “We must also not lose sight of the possibility of small capacities, having discussed the large ones. Here we are thinking about geothermal, biogas, biomass – but when we talk about such projects, we have to think about the whole value chain.”

At the same time, funding should be targeted at long-term profitable projects, not speculative ones. The number of renewable projects is growing rapidly, and the market needs specialists. “We need to prepare for this wave of projects. As far as I know, there is a lack of professional design capacity and there is this tendency to over-design,” she added.

At the same time, PPAs need to play a bigger role, as the local market is very much focused on the DAM. “The appetite of large consumers for green energy is growing and thus there is a direct need for PPAs.”

Energy Strategy Summit 2022 was organized by Energynomics with the support of its partners: ABB, BCR, CE Oltenia, Chimcomplex, Eaton, Electrica Furnizare, Electroalfa, EnergoBit, Enevo Group, European Energy, Eximbank, EY, Franklin Templeton, Horváth, ING, Hidroelectrica, Marsh, MET Energy România, Nuclearelectrica, BCR Pensii, Photomate, Powertis, Renomia Gallagher, Schneider Electric, Transelectrica, Volt, wpd.