Subsidies in Romania should last until solar panels are installed on last roof

Minister of Environment, Water and Forests Mircea Fechet expressed hope that subsidy schemes in Romania like Casa Verde Fotovoltaice wouldn’t stop until solar panels are installed on the last roof in the country.

Romania joined the group of gigawatt-scale markets in 2023 in terms of installed photovoltaic capacity within one year and the list of mature projects keeps getting longer. In fact, SolarPower Europe expects the country to reach 8.7 GW by 2027. The solar boom is fueled by all segments from prosumers to municipal authorities to transmission system operator Transelectrica.

The number of prosumers – households, firms and institutions – has surpassed 100,000, compared to just 1,634 at the end of 2020. The combined capacity of their installations is estimated at more than 1.4 GW.

The Casa Verde Fotovoltaice subsidy mechanism was blocked since September

Minister of Environment, Water and Forests Mircea Fechet bets on a further expansion. He told Radio România Actualități that the Casa Verde Fotovoltaice subsidy mechanism for households has been unblocked. Namely, a court suspended it in September after an installer filed a complaint for not being accepted to enter the program.

The issue was resolved amicably, Fechet stressed. “I hope we don’t stop financing such programs until we have a photovoltaic panel on the last roof in Romania,” he pointed out.

By the end of this week, the Environment Fund Administration (AFM) will sign its 90,000th contract, he claimed.

In the Casa Verde Fotovoltaice scheme, the government provides just above EUR 4,000 at most through AFM or up to 90% for photovoltaic facilities while the beneficiary covers the rest. Romania earmarked EUR 342 million for the program in 2023, the minister noted.