Romania opens call for Euro 595m in green energy projects

On 31 March 2022, Romania's Ministry of European Investments and Projects (MIPE) launched a platform for the submission of investment projects financed within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), which is based on the six areas covering Romania's needs and European Union priorities: green transition, digital transformation, smart growth, social and territorial cohesion, health and resilience and policies for the next generation.

With the creation of the platform, the Ministry of Energy simultaneously launched a call for projects for the state-aid scheme aimed at supporting investments for the installation of new electricity generation capacities from renewable wind and solar energy sources with or without integrated storage facilities.

The total worth of the project call is approximately EUR 595 million with approximately EUR 497 million allocated for new capacities higher than 1 MW.

According to the Minister of Energy, the eligible projects for funding under this aid scheme aim to increase installed capacity to produce electricity from wind and solar energy, with or without integrated storage facilities, by approximately 950 MW.

The submission of proposals for renewable energy production projects under the competitive bidding procedure began on 31 March and will be closed on 31 May 2022 at 17:00 hours.

Under this procedure, it will be possible to finance:

• New capacities for the production of electricity from wind sources, with or without integrated storage facilities as a secondary activity, although storage capacity cannot amount more than 20% of the amount of state aid;
• New capacities for the production of electricity from solar sources, with or without integrated storage facilities as a secondary activity, although storage capacity cannot amount more than 20% of the state aid value.

Projects that only offer storage capacity or propose to repower wind/solar capacities are not eligible. Ineligible also are projects that aim to expand power generation units.

During the 2022-2030 period, complementary financing programmes will support technologies based on other renewable sources (e.g. geothermal, hydro, biomass, etc.).

The eligible activities include:

• Acquisition of installations or equipment for the construction of new capacities for electricity production from renewable sources of wind and solar energy with or without storage;
• Construction related to projects for electricity production from renewable sources of wind and solar energy with or without storage.

The total estimated budget is the RON equivalent of EUR 595.01 million.

If this budget is not fully used after the 2022 tender, the Ministry of Energy will organise a new competitive bidding procedure for the unused amount.

The amount of state aid requested per MW installed will fall within the following maximum ceilings:

• EUR 1.3 million/MW for wind capacities between 0.2 MW and 1 MW;
• EUR 650,000 /MW for wind capacities for capacities above 1 MW;

• EUR 750,000 for solar capacities between 0.2 MW and 1 MW;
• EUR 425,000/MW for solar capacities above 1 MW

State aid is available up to a limit of EUR 15 million per company and project.

Applicants may be companies – micro, small, medium and large enterprises, including start-ups – set up under Romanian Company Law or under another member state's laws (provided that the local subsidiary is incorporated) with activities related to electricity production.

As for eligibility, according to the guidelines each project must be implemented in Romania, the commissioning date should be prior to 30 June 2024, the project must have secured grid-connection approval prior to the signing of the financing contract, and the project must hold the relevant land titles.

The following minimum technical requirements for installations and installed equipment are included depending on the project specificities:

1. Photovoltaic panels:

a. The efficiency of the panels must be:

• > 19% for monocrystalline silicon panels
• > 18% for polycrystalline silicon panels
• >12% for thin or semi-transparent panels

b. For Inverters:

• European efficiency:> 97%

2. For Storage systems:

• No lead, NiCd or NiMH based technologies

3. Wind turbines must comply with IEC / SR EN 61400

In brief, the scheme aims to accelerate the commissioning of renewables projects which are close to ready-to-build stage. The interested investors have roughly two months to prepare the applications. This scheme is first in line from the series of supporting mechanisms envisaged by the Government to deploy in the next period, including funds stemming from the Modernisation Fund, the just Transition Fund and the launching of the Contracts for Difference scheme.

For more information on this call for projects, specific assistance for applications and opportunities in the Romanian energy sector, contact your CMS client partner or local CMS experts: Varinia Radu, Ramona Dulamea and Raluca Diaconeasa.