Romania Cuts Solar Quota in 2024 CfD Scheme for Renewable Energy Tender

The Romanian Ministry of Energy has given the thumbs up to the country’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme that aims to facilitate the allocation of 5 GW of wind and solar capacity via competitive tenders through 2025.

The subsidy programme was approved this week and will see the Balkan country conduct two auctions to award 15-year power purchase agreements (PPAs).

The plan until end-2024 is to open a competitive round to award 1 GW of onshore wind and 500 MW of solar. The quota for photovoltaic (PV) proposals is cut by 50% from the original announcement for the EUR-3-billion (USD 3.28bn) state aid programme, which was cleared to proceed by the European Commission (EC) in March.

This first tender edition was significantly delayed because of the prolonged clearance process. It will contain separate bidding procedures for each technology, with projects required to have a capacity of at least 5 MW.

The remaining 2 GW of solar and 1.5 GW of wind capacity will be allocated in a second auction in 2025.

The CfD support mechanism will guarantee a minimum level of return to project owners. Its bidding process will set a strike price, while the reference price will be calculated as a monthly output-weighted average of the market price of electricity in the day ahead markets.