Romania’s electricity market is entering a new phase in which batteries are becoming increasingly important commercial assets.

At the beginning of August, Romania had 49 operational electricity-storage projects, with a combined power capacity of 989.4 MW and approximately 2 GWh of storage capacity, according to data from Transelectrica.

The business model is relatively straightforward: electricity can be purchased when generation is high and spot-market prices are low, stored in large-scale batteries and then sold during peak-demand hours, when electricity becomes significantly more expensive.

The differences in price can be substantial.

In one recent example, electricity traded on the spot market for delivery at 11 a.m. was priced at RON 349/MWh, while at 10 p.m., during the evening consumption peak, the same MWh was priced at almost RON 1,200.

In just a few hours, therefore, the market value of electricity was more than three times higher.

That price volatility is creating a new opportunity for battery owners: buy electricity when it is cheap, store it and sell it when the market price rises.

The largest operational battery-storage project in Romania has a power capacity of 201 MW.

It is the Florești project, developed by NOVA Power & Gas, a company controlled by Romanian entrepreneur Teofil Mureșan.

NOVA Power & Gas is also the largest player in Romania’s storage market, with five operational projects and a combined power capacity of 351 MW.

That represents more than one third of the country’s total operational storage capacity at the beginning of August.

The scale of the Florești project illustrates how quickly Romania’s storage market has developed. Batteries are no longer simply technical tools designed to help balance the electricity grid. They are increasingly becoming commercial energy assets capable of generating revenues by shifting electricity from low-price periods to high-price periods.

Belgian company Aukera owns the second-largest operational storage project identified in the Transelectrica data, with a power capacity of 151 MW.

Other major storage investments have been made by companies with Turkish ownership and by Sweden’s Eurowind Energy.

Eurowind’s Teiuș battery-storage system has a power capacity of 60 MW and storage capacity of 120 MWh.

Romania’s largest electricity producer, state-controlled Hidroelectrica, is also entering the market. The company has a 36 MW storage installation, putting it among the country’s significant operational storage projects.

The market is therefore already attracting a diverse group of investors: Romanian entrepreneurs, international renewable-energy developers and major state-controlled energy companies.

The rapid development of storage comes at a time when Romania’s electricity system is facing increasingly significant differences between generation and consumption throughout the day.

During periods of high renewable generation — particularly when solar output is strong — electricity prices can fall significantly.

In the evening, however, solar generation disappears while electricity consumption can remain high or increase.

Batteries allow electricity to be shifted from one period to another.

An operator can charge a battery when electricity is cheap and discharge it when electricity is more valuable.

This can generate a commercial return while also helping the electricity system manage peaks in demand and fluctuations in renewable generation.

The difference between the two prices illustrates the potential.

At RON 349/MWh, electricity purchased around midday can be stored and potentially sold at almost RON 1,200/MWh during the evening peak.

That represents a gross price spread of approximately RON 851/MWh, with the evening price roughly 3.4 times higher than the midday price.

However, the spread should not be interpreted as the battery owner’s net profit.

Battery systems incur charging and discharging losses, while operators also face capital costs, financing costs, maintenance and operating expenses, grid-related charges and other market costs.

The real opportunity lies in monetising volatility: the larger and more frequent the price differences, the greater the potential value of flexible storage.

The importance of storage is expected to increase as Romania adds more renewable generation.

Solar plants tend to produce their largest volumes of electricity around midday. If many solar installations generate simultaneously, the market can become oversupplied and prices can fall sharply.

By contrast, solar production disappears in the evening, often at the same time that electricity consumption remains elevated.

Batteries can bridge this gap.

Instead of selling all of their electricity when solar production peaks, renewable-energy producers can store part of it and release it later, when demand and prices are higher.

Storage can therefore become a crucial link between Romania’s rapidly expanding renewable-energy capacity and the electricity grid.

The growth of the market is also expected to be supported by public funding.

Romania will implement a €150 million state-aid scheme for investments in electricity-storage capacity, a programme approved by the European Commission.

The objective is to support projects that will deliver at least 2,174 MWh of total installed storage capacity.

Projects applying for funding must have a minimum power capacity of 1 MW.

According to the indicative timetable, the application call is expected to open on September 1, 2026, and close on October 30, 2026. Funded projects would have to be completed by December 31, 2030.

The current figures may represent only the beginning of Romania’s battery boom.

At the beginning of August, the country had almost 1 GW of operational storage power capacity and around 2 GWh of storage capacity.

Transelectrica expects another roughly 1,000 MW of storage capacity to be connected to the grid by the end of 2026, potentially doubling the country’s operational storage-power base within a relatively short period.

For renewable-energy producers, batteries provide a way to avoid selling electricity during periods of very low prices and move sales towards hours when electricity commands a higher value.

For the electricity system, the benefits are equally important. Storage can absorb surplus electricity, reduce pressure during peak-demand periods and make it easier to integrate increasing volumes of solar and wind power.

For investors, meanwhile, the attraction is clear.

Buy electricity when it is cheap. Store it. Sell it when it is expensive.

The gap between RON 349/MWh during the day and almost RON 1,200/MWh in the evening shows why battery storage is rapidly becoming one of the most closely watched businesses in Romania’s changing energy market.

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