Enery commissions solar power plant with batteries in Romania

The new Sărmăşag hybrid power plant in northwestern Romania consists of a 51.4 MW solar power component and a battery facility of 22 MWh, Enery said.

Two weeks after inaugurating an industry-scale solar power plant in neighboring Bulgaria, Enery commissioned a photovoltaic facility in Romania of 51.4 MW in peak capacity and 22 MWh in battery storage. A virtual power purchase agreement (PPA) with Asahi Europe and International (AEI) on behalf of its Ursus Breweries contributed to the materialization of the Sărmăşag project.

The location is in Sălaj county in Romania’s northwest. The hybrid power plant’s annual output is estimated at 64.8 GWh. Austria-based Enery developed Sărmăşag via its special purpose vehicle Comcris Energy.

According to the subsidiary’s data, the battery energy storage system (BESS) has 21.6 MWh in capacity, while the indicative depth of discharge was 80%. The nameplate or active capability is 5.4 MW, translating to 5 MW in effective operating power, the documentation shows. Sunotec and Huawei Digital Power are the contractors.

UniCredit Bank Romania financed the EUR 52.5 million investment with a EUR 39.3 million loan. Its legal advisor was CMS Romania. The Ministry of Energy said Sărmăşag is the largest PV park in Romania backed by a grant from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP or, in Romanian, PNRR). The grant amounted to EUR 13.7 million.

Renewables with storage had priority

On the last work day of last year, the ministry’s team stayed until four o’clock in the morning to meet an NRRP deadline and sign the funding contracts for electricity production facilities, Minister of Energy Sebastian-Ioan Burduja said. There were 300 deals for 1.8 GW of green energy, he added.

Burduja noted that projects that involved energy storage had priority. “Increasing storage capacities for energy from renewable sources has a very clear purpose: less pressure and instability in the system, more interest in investing in green energy projects. The private sector is our main partner in the energy transition process,” the minister stressed.

Each project counts, from the ones of under 1 MW to the endeavors of several dozen megawatts, according to Burduja. They benefit both consumers and the Romanian state with secure, affordable and green energy, he opined.

Grants amount to EUR 13 billion

Burduja said that since assuming office 15 months ago, he facilitated grants of EUR 13 billion in total. He claimed the funding would enable 1.8 GW through the NRRP for the private sector, 4 GW via the Modernisation Fund for private production and self-consumption and self-consumption for institutions and 730 MW for photovoltaic parks for Complexul Energetic Oltenia.

Furthermore, in the minister’s words, there would be 5 GW under the contract-for-difference (CfD) mechanism for solar and wind power plants, and 100 MW under the Electric-Up program for small and medium-sized enterprises and the hospitality industry – HoReCa.