Romania's EUR 150 Million Support Scheme for Stand-Alone Battery Storage

Source and status note

The final legal act is Order no. 745/2026, published in the Official Gazette on 27 July 2026. The detailed application mechanics discussed below also draw on:

• the European Commission’s State-aid approval
• the applicant guide published by the Ministry of Energy for public consultation in May 2026
• supporting materials and publicly available explanations of the proposed competitive procedure.

The final Applicant Guide, call notice, application forms and financing agreement will govern the actual submission. Any applicant preparing a filing should therefore perform a final line-by-line reconciliation against those documents once the operational call package is published.

This is particularly important for submission dates, documentary evidence, cost categories, scoring rules and implementation milestones.

1. The scheme in one view

Parameter Current position Legal instrument Minister of Energy Order no. 745/2026 Publication Official Gazette no. 610 of 27 July 2026 Funding source EU Modernisation Fund Total budget EUR 150 million National target At least 2,174 MWh Form of support Direct investment grant Project type New stand-alone battery storage Minimum installed power 1 MW Minimum duration At least 2 hours Maximum aid intensity Up to 100% of eligible costs Maximum aid per storage capacity EUR 69,000/MWh Maximum individual support EUR 15 million per undertaking, according to the consultation guide Selection Competitive award procedure Expected ranking driver Requested State aid per installed MWh Geographic scope Projects implemented in Romania Latest State-aid award horizon Before 31 December 2030

The Commission approved the measure under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework—CISAF, on the basis of Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Commission’s case reference is SA.121308.

This EU approval matters because it confirms that the Romanian Government may grant the support without the individual grants being treated as unlawful State aid, provided the national scheme and each award remain within the approved parameters.

2. Why Romania is funding stand-alone storage now

Romania’s renewable energy development has accelerated faster than the electricity system’s capacity to absorb, transport and balance all potential new production.

ANRE’s market snapshot as of 1 June 2026 identified:

The underlying ANRE report can be reviewed here:

Informare-proiecte-RES_1-iunie-2026-1.pdf

These figures should not be interpreted as a forecast that every project will be built. They do show, however, the scale of pressure building around grid access and system flexibility.

Solar generation is concentrated during daylight hours. Wind output varies according to weather conditions. Demand does not always coincide with either production profile. A system with rapidly increasing intermittent generation therefore needs assets capable of absorbing electricity when supply is abundant and returning it to the market when the system requires it.

The Commission describes the purpose of the Romanian scheme as facilitating the integration of variable renewable energy into the national electricity system by increasing storage capacity. The supported projects are intended to improve flexibility through new autonomous battery systems rather than through storage components directly integrated into individual renewable plants.

The business case goes further than avoiding renewable curtailment. Large-scale BESS can potentially contribute to:

The grant does not guarantee access to those revenues. It can, however, reduce the initial capital burden and allow projects to compete at lower required market spreads.

3. What “stand-alone BESS” means under the scheme

The scheme is aimed at autonomous battery storage installations.

In practical terms, the project must be structured as a storage facility in its own right rather than as a battery component financed together with a new solar or wind project.

Public materials describing the scheme state that eligible installations are new stand-alone batteries connected to electricity transmission or distribution networks, irrespective of voltage level. Combined renewable-generation projects are outside the intended scope.

This distinction has several consequences.

A stand-alone BESS generally charges from the electricity network rather than exclusively from a directly connected renewable generator. It must therefore have:

The term “stand-alone” should not be confused with “off-grid”. The projects supported by the scheme are expected to operate as grid-connected commercial storage facilities.

For projects located near an existing renewable plant, applicants should examine carefully whether common land, substations, cables, shareholders or operational arrangements could cause the investment to be regarded as integrated rather than autonomous. The final Applicant Guide should be checked for the exact electrical, functional and legal separation required.

4. The minimum technical design: at least 1 MW and at least two hours

The consultation materials indicate that an eligible project must provide at least:

1 MW of installed storage power; and a ratio between installed energy capacity in MWh and installed power in MW of at least 2:1.

In other words, the battery must be capable of charging or discharging at its installed power for at least two hours.

A 1 MW project must therefore provide at least 2 MWh.

A 50 MW project must provide at least 100 MWh.

A 100 MW project must provide at least 200 MWh.

Longer-duration projects should remain technically possible. A 50 MW/200 MWh system has a 4:1 ratio and would satisfy the minimum duration requirement.

Why duration matters

MW and MWh measure different characteristics.

MW indicates the rate at which the system can charge or discharge.

MWh indicates the amount of energy that can be stored and delivered over time.

Two projects can have the same export power but very different commercial capabilities. A 100 MW/200 MWh battery can discharge at full power for approximately two hours, while a 100 MW/400 MWh battery may do so for approximately four hours, subject to losses, operating restrictions and usable state-of-charge limits.

The scheme’s financial ceiling is calculated by reference to MWh, not merely MW. Consequently, the technical definition of “installed MWh” becomes legally and financially important.

Applicants should ensure that the final guide and equipment documentation clearly distinguish between:

A funding model based on nominal catalogue capacity may produce a different outcome from one based on guaranteed usable capacity. This point should be resolved before fixing the requested grant and signing the OEM supply agreement.

6. Who may apply?

The consultation package indicates a broad applicant base.

Eligible applicants may include:

A foreign EU company is expected to be registered with the Romanian Trade Register by the date on which the financing agreement is signed. The funding application must be submitted before the start of works.

This creates a meaningful opportunity for international investors. They need not necessarily have a long Romanian operating history at filing stage, but they should decide early how the Romanian project vehicle will be structured and funded.

Newly incorporated companies

A newly established applicant is expected to have a subscribed and fully paid share capital of at least RON 100,000.

This is not a substitute for demonstrating financial capacity.

A 100 MW/200 MWh project may require a total investment many times greater than the maximum grant. A newly incorporated SPV will therefore need credible shareholder support, equity commitments, financing arrangements or other evidence of its ability to complete the project.

Corporate object and CAEN classification

The applicant’s constitutional documents should include activities relating to electricity production and commercialisation corresponding to Division 35 of CAEN Rev. 3, or an equivalent classification.

Applicants should verify this before submission rather than relying on a corporate amendment during evaluation.

The registered activity should also be aligned with:

The consultation guide states that projects must be submitted individually and that partnerships are excluded.

That does not prevent a project company from having multiple shareholders or entering into contracts with:

It means that one legal entity must assume the applicant and beneficiary role.

Consortium responsibilities must therefore be translated into enforceable shareholder, financing, EPC, supply, O&M and optimisation agreements rather than presented as a joint grant application.

8. How much support can a project actually receive?

The scheme permits aid of up to 100% of eligible costs, subject to two separate ceilings:

no more than EUR 69,000 per installed MWh; and no more than EUR 15 million per undertaking.

The beneficiary must finance any remaining project costs from its own resources or from external financing that does not constitute additional State aid for the same eligible expenditure.

The phrase “100% of eligible costs” must be read carefully.

It does not mean that the State will fund the entire investment. It means that an expenditure item classified as eligible could theoretically be fully covered, but only within the EUR/MWh and undertaking caps and only to the extent of the amount requested and awarded.

Illustrative maximum-grant calculations Project configuration Installed MWh EUR 69,000/MWh ceiling Maximum after EUR 15m cap 1 MW / 2 MWh 2 MWh EUR 138,000 EUR 138,000 25 MW / 50 MWh 50 MWh EUR 3.45 million EUR 3.45 million 50 MW / 100 MWh 100 MWh EUR 6.9 million EUR 6.9 million 100 MW / 200 MWh 200 MWh EUR 13.8 million EUR 13.8 million 120 MW / 240 MWh 240 MWh EUR 16.56 million EUR 15 million 100 MW / 400 MWh 400 MWh EUR 27.6 million EUR 15 million

These are theoretical ceilings, not expected awards.

The actual grant may be lower because:

Dividing EUR 150 million by the targeted 2,174 MWh produces approximately EUR 69,000/MWh.

This suggests that the national capacity target was calibrated almost exactly at the maximum aid ceiling.

If successful applicants request materially less than EUR 69,000/MWh, the same EUR 150 million budget could theoretically support more than 2,174 MWh.

That is consistent with the policy logic of a competitive tender: the State seeks to procure at least the targeted storage capacity while encouraging applicants to minimise the public subsidy required.

9. The real competition: who needs the least aid per MWh?

The proposed assessment mechanism is not a conventional qualitative beauty contest.

Public descriptions of the consultation documents indicate that the decisive ranking criterion is the amount of State aid requested per installed MWh.

The application requesting the lowest aid per MWh is expected to receive 100 points. The application requesting the highest amount receives zero points, with intermediate bids scored on a linear basis. Projects are then ranked according to the resulting score.

The final Applicant Guide must confirm whether this remains the exclusive criterion and how ties, budget exhaustion and technical verification are managed.

Assuming the mechanism is retained, the programme operates economically like a reverse auction.

The winner is not necessarily the project with the largest battery, the most advanced technology or the highest total investment. It is the eligible and compliant project that can credibly deliver capacity while requesting less public support than competing applicants.

Why asking for EUR 69,000/MWh may be a weak strategy

EUR 69,000/MWh is a ceiling, not a target.

An applicant requesting the maximum amount could remain formally eligible but rank below projects requesting:

• EUR 60,000/MWh
• EUR 50,000/MWh
• EUR 40,000/MWh.

Applicants therefore face a difficult optimisation exercise.

A lower bid improves the probability of selection but increases the equity and debt requirement. An excessively low bid may win the competition while leaving the project underfunded.

This is one of the scheme’s most important business risks.

The winning bid must still be bankable

The grant bid should be based on a realistic and sufficiently advanced financial model incorporating:

A bid designed only to beat competitors can become a liability after award.

The financing agreement is unlikely to excuse nonperformance merely because the applicant underestimated the project cost or overestimated future market revenues.

11. The incentive-effect rule: do not start too early

The consultation materials require the funding application to be submitted before the start of works.

This is not merely an administrative date.

The underlying State-aid principle is that public support must change the beneficiary’s investment decision. If the project has already become irreversible before the aid request, the grant may lack the required incentive effect.

Applicants should therefore exercise caution before submission in relation to:

Preliminary activities such as land work, studies and permitting may be treated differently, but applicants should verify the exact final definition of “start of works”.

A prudent structure may involve:

The timing of procurement is especially sensitive because battery prices, manufacturing slots and transformer availability may encourage developers to commit early. That commercial pressure must be balanced against State-aid compliance.

12. The grant does not replace the Romanian development and regulatory process

A successful application does not, by itself, give the beneficiary the right to build or operate the battery.

The project must still progress through the ordinary Romanian legal and technical framework.

Depending on the site, capacity and connection solution, this may involve:

Romania has a dedicated technical framework for connecting storage installations under ANRE Order no. 3/2023. The rules govern technical connection requirements and the notification and conformity process for storage assets.

Applicants should therefore avoid treating the grant application, grid process and permitting process as separate tracks. They must be developed as one integrated schedule.

13. Additional financial guarantees may materially affect the project

The State-aid grant is only one element of the project’s capital structure.

Separate ANRE rules adopted in May 2026 introduced significant financial guarantees for energy projects, including storage.

ANRE establishment-authorisation guarantee

ANRE Order no. 16/2026 introduced a guarantee of EUR 30/kW calculated by reference to the installed capacity stated in the ATR. The guarantee must generally remain valid until completion of the relevant construction works, subject to the applicable regulatory conditions.

For a BESS with:

• 50 MW installed power, the nominal guarantee is EUR 1.5 million
• 100 MW, it is EUR 3 million
• 200 MW, it is EUR 6 million.

This is not a grant-application fee and is not part of the EUR 69,000/MWh support calculation. It is a separate regulatory commitment that may consume bank or insurance guarantee capacity.

Grid-related guarantees

ANRE Order no. 15/2026 also increased the relevant grid-connection guarantee to 20% of the connection tariff without VAT for qualifying projects and established a participation guarantee of EUR 20,000/MW for the 2026 network-capacity allocation process.

The exact application of the capacity-allocation regime depends on the project’s size, timing and connection route.

A subsidy applicant may therefore need to finance or secure, in parallel:

Primary source, status and connected advice

The European Commission decision announced on 6 March 2026 confirms the EUR 150 million budget and at least 2,174 MWh target. Detailed eligibility, caps, scoring and filing mechanics must be checked against the final Romanian ministerial order, applicant guide and call package. Consultation-stage conditions are identified as such and should not be treated as settled law.

A funding application should connect battery storage legal support and energy M&A and project finance with technical due diligence, project and construction management and commissioning and performance review.

This article is general information and is not legal, technical, tax or financial advice for a specific application.