Romania launches second renewables auction
Romania’s Ministry of Energy has announced its second renewables auction under a CfD scheme. The auction will seek to procure 3,472 MW of renewables, including 1,472 MW of solar and 2,000 MW of onshore wind. The government set a maximum strike price of €73/MWh for solar and €80/MWh for wind.
Romania launched its first CfD auction in September 2024, offering up to 500 MW of solar and 1 GW of wind. The results, announced in December 2024, allocated 432 MW of solar at an average price of €0.051/kWh. The ministry said it has since signed financing contracts for the selected projects.
The second auction will remove a 25% cap on the maximum capacity awarded per application that was implemented in the first auction, in order to improve cost efficiency. A statement from the Ministry of Energy adds that this change will allow bidders to scale up their projects and encourage more competitive strike prices.
There will be no cap on the capacity developers can apply for, allowing multiple bids and the award of multiple CfDs for the offered volumes. To reduce the risk of a large-capacity marginal bid being rejected, the auction sets a marginal bid cap at 120%.
The second CfD auction could “fundamentally change the structure of the national energy mix,” according to Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja.
“Our objective is clear: more renewable energy, better prices for consumers and consolidated energy independence, in parallel with all our efforts to increase storage capacity,” said Burduja. “Romania has the potential to become a regional leader in renewable energy, and this call is proof that we want to, we can and we are acting.”
Romania enjoyed a record year for solar deployment in 2024, adding 1.7 GW and taking its cumulative capacity to almost 5 GW.
