Major BESS investments in Romania advancing to completion

Several companies achieved progress in their projects for large battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Romania, both for colocated and standalone facilities.

Battery storage in Romania is galloping ahead as investors vie to tap into high price spreads in power exchanges. It would contain negative prices and spikes by effectively narrowing the gaps between the times of intraday production peaks – largely photovoltaics – and electricity demand. BESS operators store energy when the grid is overloaded or electricity prices drop, to deliver it into the system when the situation changes.

In fact, the solar power market in the country and beyond is getting so saturated, cannibalized, that the potential for such facilities is meager without batteries. But notably, Romania has become one of the most attractive markets in Europe for the technology. Another main factor beside the solar boom is that the country has very little pumped storage hydropower installed.

In the region that Balkan Green Energy News tracks, only Bugaria is undergoing a greater BESS expansion.

Bucharest-based VLA Energy said it secured land for its first standalone battery storage facility, of 300 MW and with a four-hour duration. It translates to 1.2 GWh.

The two-hectare site is in Arad county in western Romania. VLA Energy is also planning a 730 MW solar park in the neighboring Timiș county. It would feature a BESS with the same operating power and capacity as the one in Arad.

Enery obtains financing for giant battery-solar hybrid plant

Intesa Sanpaolo said it approved an EUR 85 million loan for Enery Development’s project Ogrezeni. The hybrid power plant under construction is envisaged with 761 MW of solar power, in peak capacity terms, and a BESS of 534 MW, with more than 1 GWh of storage. It would currently be the biggest of its kind in Europe.

The financing is part of a EUR 460 million package from a consortium including UniCredit and ING.

Enery said it currently operates 700 MWh of battery storage in Central and Eastern Europe.

Eurowind Energy is adding a BESS facility to its PV park Teiuș

Eurowind Energy Romania announced that it received the equipment for a BESS that would be colocated with its Teiuș PV plant. The storage capacity is at least 117 MWh, and more than 120 MWh in nominal terms.

The company added that the investment is worth EUR 21 million. It won support via the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Eurowind hired Visual Fan as the contractor, for EUR 16.6 million. The facility will consist of LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) batteries.

Turkish companies expanding presence in Romanian BESS market

Turkish renewable energy company Enda Energy Holding agreed to acquire a portfolio of projects for hybrid power plants for EUR 47.3 million.

It consists of three investments in solar parks in Romania, of 54 MW overall, with BESS units totaling 80 MW. They are projects of Defic Globe, a joint venture of YEO Technology and Emsolt Investments. According to the memorandum, the developer will complete them. It intends to use equipment from YEO’s Reap Battery.