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Romania kickstarted a competitive process for awarding CfD contracts for wind and photovoltaic projects of 1 GW and 500 MW, respectively. The Ministry of Energy said it would complete the first such auction by January 20. The subsidy scheme is worth EUR 3 billion.
After approving the subsidy mechanism for contracts for difference (CfDs) for wind and solar power projects, Romania issued its first call. The deadline for submissions is November 18.
The European Commission greenlit the overall scheme, worth EUR 3 billion for 5 GW, half a year ago. The first auction call was planned years earlier.
Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja noted that Romania was the first European Union member state that obtained funds for the purpose from the Modernisation Fund. “The more bidders we have, the more we will be able to accelerate the change needed to increase renewable energy production capacity at a competitive cost,” he stated.
Ministry of Energy slashes ceiling auction prices
Wind power projects have a quota of 1 GW while solar power projects can get state aid for an overall 500 MW. The ministry plans to auction the remaining onshore capacity next year. The contracts would last 15 years.
Under a CfD, the government pays the private operator the difference for the electricity that it sells if the market price is lower than the price in its contract. When it’s the other way around, the utility returns the difference.
Interestingly, ceiling prices were cut from the levels that were initially announced. Onshore wind power project developers can get a maximum of EUR 82 per MWh instead of EUR 93 per MWh. In the PV segment, the highest possible bid is EUR 78 per MWh or EUR 13 per MWh less than Burduja said in March.
Qualification phase lasts until December 9
Potential participants are required to submit a technical offer to qualify, with the necessary data including the target commission date. The other part is the financial bid in euros. Romania’s transmission system operator Transelectrica is evaluating the applications.
Companies can submit questions by September 30, ahead of a conference scheduled to take place on October 10. The tender calendar shows that applicants would be notified by December 9 whether they passed the qualification phase.
The deadline for filing appeals regarding eligibility is December 11. The financial bids will be opened on December 16, when the winners will be announced, the Ministry of Energy revealed. They would get the CfDs to sign by December 20, according to the schedule, and they are required to do so by January 20.
Of note, Romania is also introducing a competitive process for capacity allocation in the transmission grid for power plant projects.
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